The Word Became Flesh To Reveal the Father

John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His Glory, the Glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of Grace and Truth.

This season of Christmas is often called the silly season.  Society takes on a whole new cultural look.  People are tense, stressed, short-tempered and not many are very jolly.  Offices close down and those that just want to get on with work find themselves frustrated.  It can be a strange time.

But amidst the marketing geniuses' cries to buy more and the hustle and bustle of last minute organising, we must never forget that this time is marked to celebrate one of the greatest moments in history.  We hear it from so many corners so often: "don't forget the reason for the season!"  And most of us don't.  And I don't mean to come across cliched in this post, but I do want to remind us all to celebrate this time.

Take some time to pray with the family, during the worship service on Sunday, wherever you can, celebrate in your heart the greatness that Christmas stands for.  (It may not be the exact historical date of Christ's birth, but it is the date we set aside to celebrate it!  And I am sure He doesn't mind!)

And Christmas stands for is something hugely significant.  For so many reasons.  But one in particular I want to look at today is this:  At the birth of Christ, the invisible God became visible.

Jesus came to reveal the Father and what God was like.  This is significant in so many ways!  No longer was God a mystery!  No longer was His Nature and what He was thinking an encrypted mystery to be unlocked by the great thinkers of history.  It has been revealed in the person of Jesus.

Jesus is the exact representation of the Nature and Being of God.  (Hebrews 1:3)  Jesus said if you have seen Him you have seen the Father.  (John 14:9)  Jesus revealed to mankind what God was like.  And to our surprise, He is much more kinder, loving, gracious and good than we thought!  And surprisingly less angry!

How many sick people did Jesus turn away?  None!  How many sinners did Jesus turn away?  None!  How many sinners did Jesus dine with?  Many!  How many religious dictators did Jesus get angry with for holding back the Love of God from His people?  Many!

Friends!  God will never turn you away.  No matter who you are or what you have done.  No matter what your cry.  God hears you.  He Loves you as His very own!  Don't be discouraged by the enemy's lies.  The Truth of the life of Jesus has revealed what God is like once and for all.  And He is a good and loving Father beyond what we could ever imagine!

Rest in His Love today.  Celebrate His Love this Christmas.  Receive His Love this Christmas.  And thank Him that He has been eternally revealed ever since becoming a man on Christmas.

May you know His Love and the blessings It brings this Christmas.

Sorrow Is Temporary, Joy Is Eternal

Psalm 30:4 - 5
Sing to the Lord, you saints of His;
praise His Holy Name.
For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favour lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Many of us know this verse, especially the last part.  But it is a pity that "familiarity breeds contempt".  We become so accustomed to a saying or verse, that it can lose its power.  As Christians, we need to be so careful of this unfortunate reality.  Take John 3:16 for example, it is one of the most powerful verses in all of Scripture, yet because we know it so well, the power in its truth seems to have less of an impact on us.  We need fresh revelation to regain the power in these verses.  I believe this is what the Grace Revolution is all about.  But that's for another day and another article.

The point is, don't let the power of this verse here be watered down by familiarity.  It is a powerful truth!  Let's have a look at it...

God's anger only lasts for a moment, but His Favour lasts for a lifetime!  Isn't that stunning?  Now, put this into the context of God's plan, and we see that this is a clear picture of the Cross.  God's anger is not as infinite and eternal as His Love, Grace or Favour.  God is by very Nature Loving, Good and Kind.

Now, that is not to water down the danger or severity of sin.  But we need to recognise that God's anger and punishment was dealt with because He Himself absorbed all sin and death into the body of His own Son Jesus.  (In fact, He absorbed it Himself because He was in Christ at the time of the Crucifixion! 2 Cor. 5:19)   Friends, God's anger toward sin has been appeased!  He took it upon Himself and dealt with it!  Now what remains are eternal days of Favour!

But you may not be living in days of Favour.  Well, this is why the next verse is so important; "sorrow lasts for a night, but joy comes in the morning."  Friends, sorrow is temporal!  We must understand that we will go through trials in this life.  It won't be easy.  There will be times when life is tough.  But the good news is that there will be breakthrough!  Joy will come!  No matter what we are facing, we can be confident that eternal days of Joy and Favour will come to us!  Whether it is in this life or the next, either way, we will enjoy eternal days of Joy!  This is what Heaven is all about; JOY!

Friends, with such a hope, it is so much easier to face this life.  No matter what we are going through we can face it with an expectant hope that God promises us days of Favour and Joy.  This brings such hope to any situation.

I know that many of us face trials over this Christmas holiday period.  But be encouraged that God cares for you more than you know.  And He wants you to know that any stress or difficulty you may be facing is only temporal, and there is a joy that you can even tap into right now that lasts for eternity!

The Power of Knowing Your True Identity

1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

As you can see by the red text, I would like to draw your attention to the final phrase in this verse...  "even as I am fully known."  This gives us a great indication as to what Paul was referring to when he said "now I know in part, then I shall know fully."  He was talking about his very own identity.  Not who God is, not what God is like (which we will eternally see more and more) but Paul was referring to his very own identity, who HE is.

God knows exactly who you are.  But not in the way you think.  God sees you as who you truly are, in the spirit.  He sees your true value.  Remember, He paid the highest possible price for you (1 Cor. 6:20), He gave up everything He had to buy you back (Matt 13:44), that's how valuable you are.  You are more valuable than you could ever imagine.  You may not yet know it, but God knows exactly how valuable you are.  You are more precious and valuable than all of the world's minerals and resources combined!

Paul is saying that even he hasn't clearly seen his true identity.  He has an idea of it, he sees a reflection, but he hasn't seen it in its entirety.  And there will come a day when he, like us, will see who we truly are.  After all, it has been said so often that we are like Jesus even in this world!  (1 John 4:17)  (Now, let me say, it doesn't necessarily say that we will only experience this revelation after this life - something to ponder!)

Friends, the more we come to understand (by revelation) how valuable we are in the eyes of the Creator of the Universe and the more we come to understand who we truly are and who He created us to be, we will live remarkable lives!  We will live lives of unconditional Love toward one another, we will live with a strange positivity as we are unaffected by the negative circumstances that surround us, we will live powerfully and with authority.

I pray that today, we would come into a further revelation of our true value, our true identity, and so be further transformed outwardly into the likeness of the Image of Jesus, our Big Brother.  (2 Cor. 3:18)

It is All About God's Love

Romans 8:37 - 39 (The Message)
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

For this week's encouragement I am using the Message translation, as it gives us a fresh perspective on one of the most powerful Truths in the Universe; that God Loves us unconditionally, and nothing is going to get in the way of that Love!

Friends, this is the central Message of Scripture, the pivot around which the entire Gospel hinges!  That God Loves you unconditionally.  Now, you may have heard that on a number of different occasions, and it may not seem personal to you anymore.  This is why Paul prays for the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:19 that we might know this Love.  Because like this verse says, nothing will faze us when we live in the revelation that God Loves us.

I once heard a preacher named Jason Westerfield say that him and his wife have raised their son in a way that he would know how much he is loved.  Because of this, he thinks everyone loves him.  And this affects how he lives and deals with people.  And if people don't love him, it doesn't faze him, because everyone else loves him.

This is how we should live, knowing that we are deeply Loved by the Creator of the Universe, and therefore not letting anything affect us!

What is incredible in this passage in Romans is that Paul emphasises that nothing can separate us from God's Love for us.  And do you know what brought about that revelation?  The Cross.  "The way Jesus embraced us" is referring to what Jesus accomplished on the Cross.  2 Corinthians 5:19 says that God was in Christ reconciling the world (that's you!) to Himself!

Friends, Jesus sweated blood in the garden of Gethsemane because of what He was about to face at the Cross.  And He endured it because He saw a glorious day on the other side of it all where you could be one with Him!  That is the depth of His Love for us!

The more revelation we receive of the Cross, the more we will become convinced that nothing can separate us from God's Love for us!  My friend, know this today, that nothing can separate you from God's Love!  Absolutely nothing!  You are deeply and passionately Loved by your Heavenly Father, and He went to the very furthest He possibly could to ensure that nothing can stand between you and His Love!  Receive it today, and know, that no matter what you have done and where you have been, He Loves you with a Love that can barely be conceived by the natural mind.

I pray each and every one of us would receive a fresh and deeper revelation of the Work of the Cross, and God's Unconditional and Unending Love for us personally.

AMEN!

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For some good sermons regarding God's Love, here are two links worth downloading...

Right-click the link and then click "Save Target As" and save it anywhere on your computer:

- God's Love is Above All Things

- The Love Revolution

The Good Shepherd

John 10:4 - 10 
When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice.  But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice....  I tell you the Truth, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  He will come in and go out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

We are so privileged to be tended to and looked after by so good, kind and loving a Shepherd as Jesus.  He truly is more beautiful than we could ever conceive.  I once read a testimony of someone who encountered the very Person of Jesus and their description was that if everyone had to encounter Jesus in this way they would automatically surrender their lives to Him, because He is simply irresistible.

And like most passages in the Gospel of John, this one quoted above paints another stunningly glorious portrait of Jesus our Saviour and Shepherd.  A King and close friend who wants to lead His people into abundant pasture, saves His people from the thief, and give abundant life to them.

I wanted to encourage and remind you this week that this is Jesus' objective:  to impart Life to you.  But while reading the context of the famous verse 10, a couple of other things jumped out at me...

1.  Jesus walks ahead of His people, and His sheep follow Him because they want to

I am sure most of you have heard the comparison between a traditional Hebrew shepherd and shepherds of other cultures.  Hebrew shepherds walk ahead of their sheep while other cultures walk behind their flocks with a stick making sure they are all in line.  Jesus compares Himself to the former.  He is a shepherd who is secure, and He wants people following Him who are hungry for more.  If you want more of Jesus, His Word and His Presence, He is not going to force you.

But this means that we need to get to a place where we are so consumed by the beauty of who He is, we wouldn't be found anywhere else but in His Presence.  This is more than just "saying a prayer to be saved from hell".  This is a recognition that Jesus is the only True Source of Life, and to experience that True Life; His Presence is the best place to be!

Jesus wants us to recognise that for ourselves, from experience.

Jesus is secure.  He doesn't want people "following Him" out of duty, He wants people following Him because there's nothing else in this life that satisfies like His Love.

2.  Jesus ensures His people find pasture

Jesus wants His people to be looked after and cared for...  well.  Psalm 37:25 says the righteous will never be forsaken or will their seed ever beg for bread.  You are righteous!  That means you will never be forsaken, and even your children's children will be blessed.

Jesus wants to lead you into pastures of abundance.  Abundant, luscious green pastures meant that the sheep could feed till their heart's content, and thus they were healthy and strong.  Jesus wants you healthy and strong!  He wants you to be in a place of abundance where all your worries are cared for by Him.  After all, He is the one who will find those green pastures for you!

3.  Jesus draws a clear distinction between what comes from the devil and what comes from Him

Anything that goes into the box of "Stolen, killed and destroyed" was put there by the devil.  Not Jesus.  Anything that goes into the box of "Full and Abundant Life" was put there by Jesus.

This is one of the most important verses in the Bible for our understanding of the character of God and the origin and place of evil in our world.  Jesus doesn't will for evil to take place; but there is one who does, and his name is satan.  I have heard it said that this verse is not referring to satan but to greedy men.  That is untrue, because "men (and women)" in this verse are compared to sheep, and therefore the shepherds and hired hands are spiritual authorities.  Jesus being the Good Spiritual Authority, satan being the evil one.  It's quite simple.

My friend, Jesus wants to give you abundant life.  A life filled with health, wholeness, provision, fun and joy!  This should be the experience of the Christian!  The child of God.

Don't lose touch of His Voice.  It is sweet and always Loving.  Pursue Him, and follow His leading with reckless abandon.  There is nothing more satisfying in the Universe!  Your soul will not be disappointed.  Neither will you.

Jesus is our most Glorious Lover and Friend.  The more we see Him, the more we are transformed forever.

Highway to Grace "Snippet"

The following is a snippet taken from the "Introduction" of Steve Wheeler's latest book "Highway to Grace".  May it bless and inspire you in your walk with God!  For more information on the book and to buy it online, log on to www.highwaytograce.com

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After twenty years in the ministry I had a rude awakening.  I realised that I had been mixing the Covenant of Law into the Gospel of Grace.  I was sincerely doing my best to preach the Gospel as best as I knew how.  But I confused the covenants that God made with Abraham, Moses and Jesus. 

I spent years teaching that God’s blessing is proportional to our fulfilling certain conditions.  Year in and year out I preached “What you should be” and “What you shouldn’t do”... “Ten things you should do to get God to bless you”... “Pray harder, longer, louder”... “Twist His arm with a 21-day fast”.... 

Now I am convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that God’s blessing comes solely because Jesus fulfilled the conditions for me.  At the Cross Jesus cried out, “It is finished”.  The Greek phrase used there is “teta lestai”, meaning “paid in full”.  This is a financial term meaning that no debt remains outstanding.

Many attending church religiously every week have no idea what was accomplished on the Cross.  You will never enjoy your inheritance when you remain ignorant of what is rightfully yours. 

To fully appreciate God’s Grace, we have to understand what the Finished Work of the Cross means for us.

At the Cross:

• the Old Covenant was obliterated
• every sin – past, present and future – was forgiven and wiped out
• sickness, death and hell were forever defeated
• we were co-crucified, co-buried and co-resurrected with Jesus.

Because of the Cross:

• we have become a new species re-created in Christ
• we have been seated at His right hand in the heavenly places
• we reign in this life as kings.

For too long God’s goodness has been doubted and the Work of the Cross diluted.  Mixing Law and Grace has caused the Gospel to be polluted.  Not separating the Covenants has resulted in confusion.  

Grace is not just some subject we can tag along with all our other Bible doctrines.  Grace is the essence of who Jesus is, what He did and how He will forever relate to us.  To understand Grace fully we have to think of Grace as being a Person: Jesus himself. 

I want to spend what’s left of my life here on earth unapologetically declaring the Gospel Truth:  God’s Grace given to us through His son Jesus Christ.   

“So what is our part then?” you may ask. 

Our part is to believe this Good News.  Faith is the ‘positive response’ to what He has already accomplished at the Cross.  Only Faith pleases God. 

The Bible teaches that Faith was deposited in our hearts as a gift when we heard the Truth of the Gospel.  You have all the faith you need.  Now you have to exercise it.

A life-changing journey

Understanding this message and seeing its life-changing impact is a process.  As a church we’ve been on the journey for over three years now.  A revelation of the Gospel of Grace is renewing our understanding of who we are in Christ.   And Grace has changed our understanding and approach to church, spiritual disciplines, preaching and leadership.
  

The results we are beginning to enjoy include a greater freedom to be who God has called us to be.  I regularly have people telling me that they are reading the Bible with new passion and revelation.  The Gospel of Grace is producing a new boldness to step out and trust our Father to demonstrate His Kingdom rule on earth.  Testimonies abound from those who are reaching out to the lost with this awesome message of Undeserved Favour.  There is far less ‘performance mentality’ in our church life.  I hear of unsaved people coming into our meetings and experiencing love and unconditional acceptance. 

We are enjoying a guilt-free relationship with our Father, and are expecting – and seeing! – greater things from Him because of what Jesus accomplished on the Cross for us. 

Over the past few years we have had our fair share of trials, disappointments and misunderstandings.  We have made some mistakes in our language and in our exuberance.  At times the ‘pendulum’ has swung excessively, and there have been more questions than answers.  I will address many of these in this book.

As Andrew Wommack says, “We haven’t arrived yet. But we have left.”  With the benefit of hindsight there are many things I would do differently.  But by His Grace we are where we are – and we are still moving in the direction of Amazing Grace.

We have taken more ground than we have lost as a church.  We have had more victory than failure; more joy than sorrow.  And with Jesus’ help we never want to go back into legalism; we never want to hear those dreadful words:  “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” (Galatians 3:1)

Sanctifcation By Grace - Part 2

Ephesians 4:22 - 24
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Last week we looked at the fact that as Christians we still have the ability to choose to do the right or wrong thing; or in some cases even do nothing at all.  And we also explored the Truth that at being Born Again, God gave us a New Nature that wants to make the right choices.  And I promised I would continue with this again this week.  Hopefully to explore the practical side of "how to" make positive choices.

Well, the truth is, there is no easy way to help Christians make more positive choices and say no to the "negative" ones.  There are hundreds of ways of going about it, but none are easy.

For a preacher, it is easy to get up in front of a congregation of thousands and a TV audience of millions and shout at the audience telling them to pray more, help more of the poor, love their spouses and kids more, stop smoking, drinking and swearing etc.  That is the easiest route of them all for a preacher.  It will play to the religiosity of man's mindset and they will agree with shouts and applause (most anyway).  But all the preacher has done is put more requirements on these well-meaning Christians, raise the bar even higher, and told the people if they call themselves Christians they should be jumping over that bar.  But guess what?  When they can't, they will feel like failures.  They will feel unworthy as children of God, and so will continue the downward spiral into a legalistic system of self-effort.

Like most Gospel preachers, I know that most Christians want to do the right thing and say no to the negative stuff.  We want to help people make the right choices in their lives, but we don't want to "set a standard" by which people would compare themselves to and thus feel one of either unworthy or self-righteous.  This is the difficulty for the Gospel preacher.

I think Paul faced the same difficulty.  He would sympathise with his followers in their every day lives of making right choices, but he didn't want them to ever feel like he was superior to them and they didn't make the grade.  I believe this is why in each of his letters he would spend at least 3 chapters emphasising the Christian's Royal Identity and God's unconditional Love and acceptance for them.

And so we finally get to this text...  This is what he was doing here in Ephesians.  He had spent the last 3 chapters emphasising God's Love and Grace, and in chapter 4 he starts to describe the Christian life.  Note:  He doesn't prescribe the Christian's life, he describes it.  Christianity is not a prescribed set of rules, it is a life lived in Love, and that can look very different in various people.

By the time he hits this passage in verses 22 - 24 he gets to the root of the Christian way of life.  And I believe it is three fold:

1)  The corruption of the old self and it's deceitful desires
2)  The attitude of the mind
3)  The new self already created to be like God

Understanding these 3 areas are keys to "victorious Christian living".  (A subjective phrase in itself!)  I believe it always comes down to understanding that there (1) was a corrupt old man that we used to be.  (2) God recreated us and regenerated at the Cross and Resurrection, and (3) our minds need this revelation to live this Truth effectively.

So, after a length introduction, let me try and briefly explore these 3 parts of this powerful Scripture...

1)  Put off the old self
The original Greek of Paul's writing says the "old human".  In the original Greek, Paul was saying "stop acting the way of your old humanity. That old human was corrupt and only getting more corrupt.  That's not who you are!"

2)  The attitude of the mind
Paul continued:  "The old human was crucified with Jesus on the Cross!  It is gone and we are completely new people!"  The problem is that our minds still have a few imprints and memories of that old human, and we can be led to believe that we are still like that old self.  We are not like that old person any more, because we have been recreated in His Death and Resurrection!  We are completely New People!  And it is in the mind where we need to understand this.

What is interesting is that if you have a look at the King James Version you will note it says to be "renewed in the spirit of your mind."  


Could it be that Paul is saying that we should allow our spirits to influence our minds?  Our spirits contain the Fruit of the Spirit, they contain God Himself!  If we had to allow what is contained in our spirit-beings to influence our minds, living the Christian life could be a whole lot easier and a whole lot more natural!  Think of Galatians 5:16.

3)  The new self already created to be like God
Here is a mind-bender for you...  In the original Greek Paul says to live the way of the "new human".  His word is "anthropos" from where we get the word "anthropod".  What this seems to point to is that our entire humanity has been made new!  We are entirely new people!  We need to be reminded of this Truth over and over again.

Paul then goes on to say that we have already been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness!  True righteousness and holiness is God's righteousness and holiness!  He made us Holy!  He made us Righteous!  What He says goes.  We don't need to do anything to be righteous people.  We are righteous people!  When we believe this and realise it, we will live and act like it.

So you see, once again I believe it comes back to the mind.  When our minds realise the paradigm shift that our old self is gone and our new selves are created to be like God, making the positive choices becomes second nature.  We begin to operate "righteously" (if you like) from a sub-conscious level.  But it is imperative we "reprogram" our minds to believe that we are already righteous and holy and when we do, living that way eventually becomes "second nature".

Friends, while I have tried to tackle this subject practically, the more I delve into it the more I come to the conclusion our living righteously and making positive choices comes back to our minds understanding who we really are through what Christ accomplished in making us New People.  That really is the essence of it all!

Sure, making right and positive choices is imperative to the Christian life.  But it would seem God wants us to reprogram our minds so we eventually get to a place where we live this way sub-consciously.  Not to become self-righteous in our self effort of trying to live righteously, but to make positive choices and live in such a way that reflects the Nature of God here on Earth, and creates a culture of Love and victory.

So for now, the best practical advice I can say is to actively make the choice and decision to delve into the Word.  Listen to preachers and read material that delves into the Truth about your New Identity through what Christ accomplished at the Cross.  Give yourself to the Word, and reprogram that mind to live in the way God created you to live!

As always, your thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

Have a blessed week!

In His Grace,

James

Sanctifcation By Grace - Part 1

Ephesians 4:22 - 24
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

One of the biggest questions about hearing the Message of God's Grace has to do with sinful desires after being born again.  This falls into the subject of "sanctification".  The big word Christians use when referring to the process of becoming more "Godly".

Unfortunately, it has become one of the biggest issues in Christianity and "the church" worldwide over the last 500 years, because preachers and theologians have emphasised that the effort to become more Godly rests on us, and if we do not become more Godly we endanger our salvation.  This has put millions of Christians in bondage.  Especially in the past 60 years or so.  Your regular, "everyday Christians" who just want to please God would focus so much on whether they are getting it right with God that it just becomes too much of a burden, and many eventually crash and burn, buckling under the pressure of self-effort.

But what about the words of Jesus?  What did He mean when He said "My yoke is easy and My burden is light"?  (Matthew 11:30)  When one looks at those words, it seems rather clear that one shouldn't have such pressure to buckle under.  So why does the Christian life seem to hard?

Well, in my opinion it is because many preachers have focussed on Christians trying to life a good life instead of what Christ has accomplished on their behalf.  (Not all preachers, there have been many great Gospel preachers, modern and gone-by, who have focussed on the Finished Work of the Cross. There just haven't been enough preachers!)

Here's the thing, as a preacher and pastor, I do believe that Christians still have choices to make.  And those choices will always lead to 3 possible outcomes:
1) Destruction  (sinful acts)
2) Positive Outcomes
3) Completely Neutral

The key is understanding that those choices do not affect one's status in the Throne Room of Heaven.  When we get that clear, it becomes much easier to make the positive choices.

As a Christian, it is obvious to everyone that we should be making as many positive choices as possible. Especially if we are to be making an impact on this world.  (In fact, you don't even need to be a Christian to inwardly know what choices you should be making.)

But let's be honest, the next natural question for many would be; "well, how many positive choices should I be making as a Christian?"  This is exactly the point!  Under The Law, it was never enough!  We always fell short.  And this is why it is so important to understand that the New Covenant believer does not live under any Law at all!!  Not moral law, not New Testament law, not Mosaic Law!  Otherwise, there will always be more to do!

We must rest!  Jesus wants us to be at rest!  And so He fulfilled everything required before God and pleased Him entirely so that we can stop trying to gain favour with Him!  When it comes to satisfying God:  Jesus did it all on our behalf!

This means today that the New Covenant believer doesn't have to try and live up to any external standard.  Every Christian is different as they live out their lives doing what God has gifted them to do, following their heart's desires.  Daddy is pleased, so go out and enjoy life!  Go and take over the world!

But here's the thing...  And it's a difficult subject for us "Grace preachers" to tackle....  The choice still remains with us.

As Christians, we still have the ability to choose to do something "sinful" that would lead to negative consequences, or we can choose to do something positive, and we could even choose to do nothing at all.  We still have the choice!

Now, the logical question for many would be; "but if Jesus accomplished all that was required of mankind, then what's the point of making the effort of positive choices?"  This question would highlight the asker's ignorance of the Work of the Gospel.  If you have received the Sacrifice of Jesus as your own, and have believed it, something powerful took place in your heart.  God by His Spirit recreated you internally.  In the spirit realm you are entirely new.  And this "new creature" in the spirit is now entirely empowered to make positive choices and say no to negative ones!  (It is empowered because it is One Spirit with the Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:17).

There is Something internally that is inspiring the Christian to make positive choies and say no to the negative ones.

This is what true sanctification is all about!  And this is what preachers should be focussing on:  The Power of the New Creation within a believer to live a life that can and will transform world.  That Power is a direct result of the death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus!

If we focus on making choices without ever bringing in the Cross, then we are mere motivational speakers.  Not true preachers.  We become like any other religion encouraging their followers to make the right choices.

Absolutely!  Make the positive choices!  But know that there is a Force at work within your heart that can and wants to inspire you and empower you to make those choices!

We'll continue with this next week.

Until then, rest in His Finished Work!

The Glory of Provision

Exodus 16:10
While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the Glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

Most of us know the story of the Glory of the Lord appearing to the Israelites in a cloud in the desert, even if it is vaguely.  Many of us would remember that the Lord led the Israelites by a cloud by day and by a pillar of Fire by night (Exodus 13:21).  But in this context of Exodus 16 the Lord's Glory appears in a specific context.  It is the context of provision.

The Israelites were grumbling against the Lord that they were going to starve to death.  And God, in His Grace, Mercy, Compassion and Goodness, simply offered a solution to their complaints (not prayers).  He said that He would provide Bread from Heaven in the morning, and quail meat in the evening.  It was when He made this announcement to the Israelites through Aaron that His Glory appeared out in the desert in a cloud.

Now, Exodus 13 tells us that the cloud of the Glory stayed in front of the Israelites every single day and never left their sight.  And in this verse (Exodus 16:10) we see it "appear" again.  I don't believe it disappeared.  I believe the cloud appeared in a different position to where it was.  You see, the Glory Cloud was always in front of the Israelites, but in this instance, It appears out in the desert.  And God was about to provide life-giving food to the Israelites which would manifest in the desert.  So it would seem that as He was announcing this form of provision to His people, He was also showing them it was His Manifest Presence that was going to produce this life-giving food.

Friends, do you know that this incident was a picture pointing to Jesus!?  Have a look at what Jesus tells His followers in John 6...

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34“Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”

35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Once we have Jesus, there is nothing else we need.  He meets our every desire, from the inside out.  He starts with the biggest desire of all; the deep longing within each man for Love, identity, acceptance and purpose.  And then He begins to provide for everything else.  He promises to take care of us!  (Matthew 6:33)

Do you know that you hold the very Presence of God Himself within you?  You are the Holy tabernacle where God's Presence dwells (1 Cor. 6:19 and Colossians 1:27)!  My friend, the very same Presence of God that provided for the Israelites in the desert when they had nothing now dwells within you!  What an incredible truth!

I want you to believe this Glorious truth, and release it into your atmosphere around you.  Speak Life into each and every situation around you, and don't stop!  Release what is in you.  Release the supernatural provision of God into every situation around you.  Declare it as a Righteous, Royal Prince or Princess of the King.  Declare with authority!

You may say "but James I have!  I have declared so much and nothing is happening."  Well, I don't buy that.  Just stop and look around you.  How much can you be thankful for?  God knows what you need before you ask it.  When we focus on what He has provided for us and not on what He hasn't, it builds faith and thankfulness in our hearts and inspires to continue declaring with joyful authority!

Now, I have based this week's devotional on the Glory Cloud because I watched a video this week of a Glory Cloud manifesting at a meeting in Bethel Church in Redding, California.  As I watched I was deeply inspired by God's promise of His Presence and His Provision.  Because where His Presence is, there too is His Provision.

Just watch this video by clicking on the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VqbVH6SNP4

You will notice the cloud appears above the right-hand corner of the room like a small mist.  Most notably between 1 minute and 1:45.  You will also notice how the cloud shimmers with golden and silver sparkles.  Incredibly, a number of people standing in that very corner received Gold teeth supernaturally!

I watched this video and I felt so strongly God saying that we can see the same miracles that the Israelites saw and even more!  We have the very Presence of God dwelling within us.  The more we believe this Truth the more we will act on it, and the more we will see its effects in our lives.  Just like this group of people who believed this Truth came together and saw a manifestation of God's Presence in the atmosphere where they were worshipping!  I am pretty sure they will have faith that God will provide for all their needs in their daily lives as well!

Romans 10:17

"...faith comes from hearing the Message, and the Message is heard through the Word of Christ."

Now, I have shared from here before, but it is an important follow-on from last week's message out of Romans 12.  As we saw last week, our mind's need to be renewed from the pattern of the way the world thinks to the pattern of the way Christ thinks.  Christ thinks positively.  He always has hope.  He always sees life.  We need to see things from His perspective.

How do we do that when we are faced with negative circumstances and depressing stories on a daily basis?  Well, it is absolutely imperative that we immerse ourselves in the Word of Christ.  Notice that the translation of this verse I have used actually says "the Word of Christ", not the "word of God".  There is a difference.  The Word of Christ reveals the Glorious Nature and Person of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  We need to immerse ourselves in that Word that breathes life into all situations.

When we do so, faith will naturally arise in our hearts.  Just like when the Springboks (not in this case) won the Rugby World Cup it doesn't take much for you to get up off your chair and clap and shout.  Faith isn't something you need to work up.  It is the natural by-product of the hope-giving Message of the Word of Christ.  

THis is why it is imperative we immerse our ears and eyes in Scripture, teachings, preaching, books and sermons that reveal the Good News of Jesus.  When we do so, our minds will be renewed to think about things from Christ's perspective and not the perspective of this world's hopeless pattern.  And when we're thinking that way, the Kingdom will come in so many more ways than we can imagine!

True Transformation Starts In The Mind

Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the patter of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

The power of our mind is highly under-estimated, especially among Christians.  When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, I believe something powerful took place.  Mankind moved from living from their spirits, to living from their minds.  Our spirits were meant to dominate the way we live, that is how God designed us.  After all, He said Himself that He is a Spirit (John 4:24) and those who worship Him must do so in spirit.  The interesting thing is that verse 1 of Romans 12 tells us that we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.  It would seem that God wants to surrender the desires of our flesh (our bodies) and live from our spirits.  When we do this, we are living lives of worship.  In other words, we are doing what God wants us to do and what He created us to do.

The key to living this way is that our minds stand in the way.  This verse in Romans 12 clearly tells us that when our minds are renewed, transformation takes place in us.  Nowhere else in the New Testament are we instructed to renew our spirits.  They have been renewed by the New Birthing work of the Holy Spirit.  They are already New, perfect, holy and righteous.  The problem is that our minds need to catch up to this awesome Truth.

So Paul is saying the old ways in which used to think can still hinder our transformation process here on Earth.  Because I don't know about you, what I want is to manifest more of the Likeness of Jesus here on Earth.  And that all starts with renewing our minds.

Now, we can so easily jump to the conclusion that those old ways are "sinful acts" etc.  Now, of course those things aren't helpful if we are to manifest Christ-likeness here on Earth, but there's far more to it.  What really hinders us is the pattern of this world that is programmed in our minds.  That's why Paul encourages us not to conform to that pattern any longer!

Next week I would like to go a little further into what the pattern of the world is, and how we as Children of God can overcome that pattern.  Until then, I want you to remember that you are 100% Perfect in your spirit being.  You are 100% Righteous, like Christ, and have been given everything for life and Godliness!  It is all lying within you!  What needs to happen, is for your mind to be renewed to believe that Truth!

Like I say, next week we'll explore a bit more how we actually renew the mind.  Until then, have a blessed week!

Don't Let Your Worries Weigh You Down

Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fail.

Oh man, I love the Word of God!  I love how It is so full of rich promises that fill your heart with faith and put your mind at ease!  The Word of God is meant to bring life (2 Corinthians 3:6), so if a passage of Scripture doesn't bring life to your soul, then ask Holy Spirit to reveal it's life-giving Truth hidden in that passage, and if you still don't get anything, then leave it for another time until Holy Spirit does reveal the passage's life-giving power.

That's why I love this verse right here.  Amidst all of David's complaints and groans about his enemies and their successes, he gets this revelation that God will never let the righteous fail.  That is a powerful and exciting revelation!  You my friend, as a righteous person, cannot fail.

We should all know by now that we have been made righteous by the sacrifice of Jesus (Hebrews 10:10). and thus by His sacrifice we are declared by God Himself to be 100% righteous!  And that means, according to this verse, you cannot fail!

Now, it would seem that there is a condition to a righteous person not failing.  That's the way it seems.  But I don't think this verse is saying that.  I think David is saying "stop worrying, because God will never let a righteous person fail!"  David is saying we, as children of God, shouldn't be worried, because we can't fail!

It's not a case of casting our cares on God in order to not fail.  Instead we won't fail therefore we may as well cast our cares on God!  There is no reason to have cares or worries if we can't fail!

Most of us have some kind of worry we face each and every day.  Some have more cares than others.  Some, by their genetic make-up, tend to worry more than others.  But God is a loving Father who doesn't want us to be weighed down by these worries, and instead offers to carry them for us.

Worry and anxiety can consume us.  They can take over our emotions and so easily drain our energy.  Our loving Father wants us to hand these worries to Him, and in their place He will give us sustaining Life.  When we hand our worries to Him, instead of having our energy drained we find that our energy rises.

Friends, today hand all your worry and anxiety over to Him.  He will look after you.  He will provide for you.  He will protect you.  And because you are a child of the Most High God, you cannot fail.  There truly is nothing to worry about when our trust is in our Father!

I have written this prayer in the first-person, in order to make it personal to you:

Father, than You for Your Word that so clearly says that if I cast my cares upon You, You will sustain me.  Today, I ask that You would help me do that.  It's not easy to let go of all these worries, but I want to.  I place them into Your hands today.  Please sustain me.  Replace this worry with joy and peace.  I want to trust You with everything that I am.  I want to believe that as Your child, I cannot fail.  Please give me a revelation of this Truth!  Thank You so much, Dad!  Thank You for how much You Love me.  I am overwhelmed when I even think about it, may You make it more and more real to me each and every day.

We Are The Circumcision

Philippians 3:3

"For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh."

Wow!  There is a lot we can draw from in this one verse!  Firstly, we are the circumcision.  We have been set apart by God.  Now, why is that?  Because Christ has been set apart. And we are in Christ!  Circumcision also speaks of the old being removed and done away with.  This is a Truth that we will forever be unraveling and being blown away by!  The old nature that was sinful, evil and corrupt is gone!  Dead!  It was taken upon by Christ, crucified, dead and buried!

The interesting thing to note is that the verse goes onto say that we worship by the Spirit of God.  I find that an interesting connection.  From our old selves being crucified to our new selves worshipping by the Spirit of God.  You see, we now live new lives through our spirit beings.  We have access to the spiritual realm of Heaven where there is no remnant of the corruption of mankind.  We live from that realm to this one.  Overturning the effects of "the fall" through that Supernatural connection.  Could this be our worship?  Out of our spiritual union with God, the world is transformed around us?  Interesting!

And our Glory is nothing else but Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh!  We can't live this life according to our flesh.  We'll die of stress, worry and anxiety!  It's not worth it!  When we recognise that the only True Life is the Life of Christ, it is not worth putting any trust in our flesh whatsoever.

Father, thank You for this mind blowing Truth!  That Christ lives in us and through us!  And that through our connection (by Christ) into the Supernatural Realm of God, we can change the world around us.  Help us to know this Truth more and more.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.

He Is Doing The Work Of Your Spirituality

Philippians 1:6

"Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

This is a powerful thought!  Do you ever wonder about how you be able to carry on?  Do you ever find yourself without the strength to face another day?  Do you ever question whether you have what it takes to "live this Christian life" for the rest of your days?

Well, notice that this verse clearly says that He is the one who is working inside you!  He started the work, and He will carry it on!  Friends, the Christian life is one of inexplainable rest.  It makes very little sense to the religious mind that all the efforts we try to put in can be more detrimental to us than beneficial.  We think if we work hard we will be successful.

But that's not the way of the Christian.  Jesus was the most relaxed man on the Earth.  And I have news for you, God is the most relaxed Being in the Universe!  After the Work of Salvation was completed at the Cross, God sat down.  He is at rest.  He isn't stressed!  And this verse very interestingly points to a similar attitude we should be taking.

He is the one working in us!  We don't need to strive or work at getting closer to God or even becoming more spiritual.  We need to simply rest.  Rest in His Finished Work.  Rest in what He has accomplished, and rest in the Truth that He Loves us more than we could ever love ourselves!  He will never let us drift away.

Friends, rest in Him today.  Stop trying to make life happen.  Including your spiritual life.  He will see your spirituality through to the end.  Because He Loves you!  This is Good News!

Keep Drinking The Heavenly Wine

Mark 2:22
"And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."
The Bible often describes the Holy Spirit as wine. (Ephesians 5:18). Do you know why that is?

Because wine represents joy, happiness, celebration! Did you know that the first miracle Jesus ever performed was turning old, muddy water into perfect new wine!? Go read it for yourself in John chapter 2.

Do you know that that is a picture of us? We were once like old, muddy water, but Jesus changed us completely, and by His Grace He filled us with the Person of the Holy Spirit, and changed us into brand new people of joy and life! Wow!

Now, this Scripture in Mark 2 is telling us something... It is telling us that we need to keep the wine flowing. We cannot just live on what God did yesterday. When Jesus said "new wine", He was talking about freshness. New things. Keeping things fresh!

We should be allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us freshly on a regular basis. Because without Him, life will become dry, dull and depressing. Life can get us down, and the only source of True Joy and Happiness is found in the Holy Spirit! And every time we encounter Him, He reveals to our hearts the amazing Love of God only found in Christ Jesus!

So, I want to encourage you today; make time with the Holy Spirit as often as possible. He is God. And God is Love. He will reveal to you God's Love and Joy so deeply to your hearts that you really will become a new person!

Maybe some time in the future we can talk about how that works practically.

God bless you guys! Keep loving Jesus!

We Are God's Children

Romans 8:16

"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children"

Spirits are of different quality from souls or bodies. They function differently. Bodies are separate entities; one is distinct from another, and remains so. So also souls, which are the varied individual forms through which the inner ego expresses itself, each different as everything in nature is different: one quick, another slow; one gentle, another firm; one rational, another intuitive, and so on. But spirits unite. They interpenetrate. One dwells in another. We have seen that in the Trinity, One in the Other, yet each separate Persons. We see it in the Savior on earth, who at one time says, "I and My Father are one"; yet at another, "The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." Both a union and a distinction between Them at the same time. And above all in the marvelous words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:17, "He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit."

I, a spirit, and the Lord, The Spirit, when joined, are one; spirit-union. We see the same all through the references in the Bible to the Holy Spirit. He is always spoken of as indwelling. The Old Testament prophets spoke of "the Spirit of Christ which was in them." We are believers, "if so be that the Spirit of God dwells in" us. And the place of union is told us in that same chapter (Romans 8:16), "The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit."

God the Spirit indwells human spirits. The Creator Self indwells the created selves, Spirit in spirit. The I AM of God in the I am of man. The Liberating Secret.

How about that for some powerful Truth!  Oh wow!  What Christ has accomplished for us!  The union we have the Creator of the Universe.  Mind blowing stuff.

Jesus' Prayer For Us: Oneness With God

John 17:22 - 23

I have given them the Glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:  I in them and you in me.

I doubt our minds will ever be able to comprehend this incredible truth.  Here we see Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, praying before He goes to the Cross.  And this is what He prays.  That He would be in us.  It is here that we start to see the "joy set before Him" before enduring the Cross (Hebrews 12:2).  The joy set before Jesus on the other side of the Cross was oneness with His people.

Friends, God's greatest desire is for intimacy with His people.  We see that all over Scripture, even the most well known verse in John 3:16 states so boldly that it was because God so Loved the world that He gave His only Son!  And what Jesus accomplished on the Cross was the death of our empty lives and a resurrection with the Living Christ dwelling within us!

What Jesus did in His death and resurrection meant you and I are now completely one with God.  The ultimate quest has been found.  He has made Himself one with us by creating in Himself one new man!  (Ephesians 2:15 - 16).

Friends, this is astounding.  God now lives in us!  He is now closer than He ever will be.  No matter what we do, He is in us.  And now He just wants you to enjoy that deep intimacy with Him.  He is in you, and all that is left is for you to enjoy Him.  You may say "but I don't feel anything".  Well, it is not about feelings, it is about faith.  2 Cor. 5:7 says that we live by faith not sight (or by feelings).  But let me tell you, the more you believe this truth, the more you will find you will experience it.

It is just a change of mindset.  It is simply being aware of Him.  Stop what you are doing, and shift your focus to Him, your Loving God, and feel His Love for you.  He is already in you, His ultimate goal has been reached.  And now all that is left is for you to enjoy Him.

"Father, we cannot thank You enough for how you have made us one with You.  There is no more powerful a revelation than this.  Father I pray that each and every one of us can come to know this truth in real, transformational ways.  That we would know Your Presence in everything that we do.  No matter what it is.  Let us live in the flow of Your Love for us.  Open our hearts and minds to know this Glorious Truth of You in us.  We love you Father, in Jesus' Name, amen."

For more unlocking of this powerful revelation, I would recommend 2 great sermons preached by Peter Haynes at our Highway School of Supernatural Ministry and at church recently.  Click the links below:

Right-click the download link of "Intimate Love" by Peter Haynes preached on Sunday 19 June in the AM service here:

http://highwaysermons.com/sermons2011.html

Right-click the link of "Practising the Presence of God" at this link:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/hssmsermons

May you each have a blessed week!

Numbers 13:27 - 30 

They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”
 ³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Friends, this is an interesting story for us to consider.  Moses had sent out 12 men to explore the promised land & see what it was like.  Moses knew that he needed a first hand account to encourage the Israelites to press on toward their goal; their vision of taking the promised land God had given them.  If he didn't have a firsthand account, the Israelites wouldn't have been so sure of going ahead with the great journey.  So he sent out a man from each tribe of Israel.  What he didn't know was that only 2 of those 12 men knew what God was like.  The other 10 allowed their circumstances to rule their emotions.

We pick up the story in these verses, where the 10 spies were indeed sharing how good the promised land was.  But!  There was a but.  There were powerful people already living there.  10 of the 12 men were overcome with fear by the size and power of those already inhabiting this beautiful land.  They suddenly doubted God's promises in all of this!

Caleb (a good friend of Joshua) couldn't believe what he was hearing!  He stepped in and encouraged the people to forget the facts of powerful people in the land, and instead remember that God has indeed given them the land!  God gave them the word, how could they notbelieve He would carry it out?

This is an interesting account for us to take hold of here.  It shows the unfortunate reality of the human condition.  There is something about humanity that tends to always look for the negative and allow it to swallow up our hope in God's ability.

I want to encourage you and remind you today, don't be like the 10 men who saw how powerful the inhabitants of the land were.  But instead, be like Joshua and Caleb, who, despite the blaring facts, knew how powerful God was, and knew His promises!  I want to encourage you, God has promised you a number of things in His Word.  Like healing, health, provision, peace, Love, acceptance, even His fruit to bear forth in your life!  These are all promises that He has made.  And no matter what you might face, if He said it, then He is faithful to see His Word fulfilled.

Will you look at the circumstances?  Or will you believe in the Goodness of your Father in Heaven?  I want to encourage you today to take your eyes and thoughts off the tough times around you that you may be facing, and instead lift up your head, and see the greatness and goodness of God!  For He is mighty to save!  And He is willing!  Look to Him, trust it is by His strength and Power (not your own), and be sure, as you rest in His Power, you will be amazed at what manifests in your life!  Be encouraged by the Truth that God sent His only son because He longed for you to overcome the world with Him.

Father we thank you today that you promised us so much.  We thank you that you are good, and you long to breakthrough into our lives in the most incredible ways!  And I declare right now over every person reading this a supernatural revelation of your Goodness, Powerful ability, and willingness; that this revelation would become so strong in their lives it wouldn't matter what they are facing, and instead they will have hope in Who You Are!  In Jesus' Name!  Amen!

The Reason Believers Are Sick?

1 Corinthians 11:29–30 Vs29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. Vs30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

Have you ever wondered why some Christians are weak and sick, and die young? I thank God that the Holy Spirit gives us the reason as well as the solution. In 1 Corinthians 11:29–30, He tells us clearly that theone reason some Christians are weak and sick, and die prematurely, is that they don’t discern the Lord’s body when they partake of the Holy Communion. Many believers don’t understand that the pierced, striped and slightly burnt bread, which represents the Lord’s body, is for their health and healing. And when they partake without discerning this truth, they partake in an unworthy manner. The reverse is true: If they discern accurately the Lord’s body, then they will be strong and healthy, and live long. Unfortunately, the church down through the years has misconstrued this teaching and taught that if you have sin in your life, you are unworthy and cannot partake of the Holy Communion, lest you become weak and sick, and even die! We have turned a blessing into a curse. Because of this, many Christians are afraid to come to the Lord’s table and are therefore robbed of the health-giving power of the Holy Communion. My friend, there is no such thing as a worthy person! The best of us still miss it and fail. So unworthy people are the only people who partake of the Lord’s Supper. But because Jesus died for unworthy people, He has qualified those of us who take Him as our righteousness to partake of every benefit that He died to give us. So it is not a matter of whether you are worthy or unworthy to partake, but howyou partake. Come to the Lord’s table with boldness and partake because Jesus has qualified you with His precious blood. Don’t treat it as a ritual, but release your faith for health and healing as you discern that Jesus’ body was broken so that yours can be healthy and whole today. When you partake like this, you are partaking in a worthy manner, and you will not be weak or sickly, or die prematurely! ----------------------------------------- This is a repost from an inspirational message by Joseph Prince.