• Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    Confess: There Is Only One Way

    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. in 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

    The apostle Paul tells believers who have been born again in Christ that God the Father “has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13–14).

    Notice that there has been a change of location. You used to be under the power of darkness. But the moment you believed in Jesus, you were moved. And placed under the blood of Jesus, where there is perpetual forgiveness of sins.

    Why should we confess?

    To understand the total forgiveness of sins, we have to understand the value of the person Who sacrificed Himself on the cross for us. He alone, because He was sinless, could pay for all the sins of every man.

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

    Now, does that mean that everyone is automatically forgiven? Of course not! While everyone’s sin is paid for, every individual needs to make a personal decision to receive the forgiveness. The forgiveness of all their sins by receiving Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

    Confession is the way

    Jesus is the only way to salvation. There is no other way except through Jesus and His shed blood.

    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.

    Therefore, anyone who tells you that everyone’s sin is automatically forgiven and that you don’t need to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior in order to be saved is scripturally inaccurate. Such teachings are heretical and are lies from the pit of hell.

    There is no salvation without Jesus. Equally, there is no forgiveness without the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. There is no assurance that all our sins have been forgiven without the resurrection of Jesus.

    But today, as born-again believers in Christ, there is forgiveness and the amazing assurance that our salvation is secure. And we will never be put to shame! This is our reality today—we can enjoy His presence. In addition, we can have peace of His righteousness, and His help every day and in every season.

    Here are some devotionals from Pastor Prince’s website and mine.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    Joyful smile: How to maintain it

    In a chaotic world like ours, everything seems to be focused on making us to lose our joyful smiles.

    Here’s a short devotional of how you can maintain from Pastor Joseph Prince.

    In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

    Ephesians 1:7

    The moment you invited Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior, all your sins were forgiven—your past sins, your present sins, and your future sins. Once you are born again, you are in Christ. You do not have to try to get forgiveness. You have the forgiveness of sins through His blood, and this forgiveness of sins that you have is not according to what you have done. But according to the riches of God’s grace—His unmerited, unearned, and undeserved favor!

    The Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). In other words, the punishment for sin is death. It also tells us that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22 NIV).

    Blood is thus necessary for the forgiveness of sins. That is why even under the old covenant of law, sin was covered temporarily through the blood of sacrificial animals.

    The good news of the gospel is that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, came down from heaven to earth. And he sacrificed Himself at the cross. His perfect, sinless blood provided forgiveness for all our sins.

    You and I cannot pay for our own sins, so He did it for us. Now, whosoever believes in Him will never die but will receive the gift of eternal life. Hallelujah!

    Why should we maintain a joyful smile?

    Dear reader, notice how David describes the blessedness of a man whose sins are forgiven:

    “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”
    —Romans 4:7–8 NLT

    Oh, what joy and what a blessing it is to receive the forgiveness of sins! Conversely, when believers start to question if they are truly forgiven, it leads to all kinds of insecurities, fears, and destructive bondages.

    Fear and insecurity cannot exist in a healthy relationship with God. In a marriage relationship, for example, if a wife never feels secure in her husband’s love for her, she will never draw strength from or find joy in her marriage. Instead of thriving, that marriage will disintegrate over time. Similarly, our heavenly Father does not want us to live trapped in perpetual insecurity because we are never sure of our forgiveness.

    Today, based on the Word of God, rejoice and thank God for the blessing of His forgiveness, so dearly paid for and so freely given to us. Let this truth of the gospel anchor and put strength in your heart, and drive away every fear and sense of insecurity.

    In conclusion, if you want to maintain that joyful smile you have on your face now, you have to believe God’s forgiveness. I have accepted this reality and have found so much joy in living. Check out similar encouraging devotionals like this here.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    The Power to Sin No More

    We are not condemned becuase of sin.

    Here’s what Pastor Jospeh Prince wrote.

    Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

    Romans 8:1 NASB

    Today, I want to talk about how you can have a victorious thought life. My friend, the solution to temptations, sinful desires, and thoughts is found in the very first verse of Romans 8: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

    (By the way, some Bible translations, like the New King James Version, go on to say “who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” This was added by the later Bible translators. In the oldest manuscripts of the New Testament available today, the Greek simply states, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”)

    You may experience temptations and sinful thoughts from time to time, but right in the midst of that temptation, you need to know this: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

    Notice that this verse is in the present tense. Right now, even if at this very moment, sinful thoughts are going through your mind, there is no condemnation because you are IN CHRIST JESUS! Are we then to sit still and entertain those sinful thoughts? Of course not.

    What does sin conciousness mean?

    Sin cannot take root in a person who is full of the consciousness that he is righteous in Christ. You cannot stop birds from flying over your head, but you can certainly stop a bird from building a nest on your head.

    In the same way, you cannot stop temptations, sinful thoughts, and desires from passing through your mind, but you can certainly stop yourself from acting on these temptations, sinful thoughts, and desires. How? By confessing at the very moment of temptation that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!

    The power of Jesus to overcome every temptation kicks in when you remain conscious that even at the point of temptation, Jesus is still with you and that you are righteous in Him apart from your works (Rom. 4:6)! When you do that, you reject the condemnation for the temptation that you faced.

    You now have the power of Christ to rise above your temptation and to rest in your righteous identity in Christ apart from your works. That, beloved, is the overcoming life in Christ!

    For more devottionals, go here.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    The Right Definition of Being Righteous

    Did you know that being being righteous is not based on what you did and do but on Christ? Read along this short devotional from Pastor Joseph Prince.

    I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

    Galatians 2:21 KJV

    What has a right understanding of your righteousness got to do with expecting good to happen to you today? Everything!

    Many believers associate righteousness with a list of things that they have to do, and if they fulfill this list, they feel “righteous.” Conversely, when they fail in terms of their behavior, they feel “unrighteous.” But this is the wrong definition and understanding of righteousness.

    Let’s go back to what the Bible has to say. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21: “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].” We are not righteous because we do right. We became righteous because of what Jesus did for us at the cross.

    “Righteousness,” therefore, is not based on our right doing. It is based entirely on Jesus’ right doing. Christianity is not about doing right to become righteous. It is all about believing right in Jesus to become righteous.

    What does it really mean to be righteous?

    Do you realize that we have been conditioned to associate being blessed with doing right? Most belief systems are based on a system of merit whereby you need to fulfill certain requirements—give to the poor, do good to others, and care for the underprivileged—to attain a certain state of righteousness. It all sounds very noble, self-sacrificial, and appealing to our flesh, which likes to feel that our good works have earned us our righteousness.

    But God is not looking at your nobility, sacrifices, or good works to justify you. He is only interested in Jesus’ humility at the cross. He looks at His Son’s perfect sacrifice at Calvary to justify you and make you righteous!

    Attempting to be justified by your good works and trying your best to keep the Ten Commandments to become righteous is to negate the cross of Jesus Christ. It is as good as saying, “The cross is not enough to justify me. I need to depend on my good works to make myself clean and righteous before God.”

    The apostle Paul said, “I do not frustrate the grace [unmerited favor] of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” My friend, consider carefully what Paul is saying here. He is effectively saying that if you are depending on your good works, your doing, and your ability to keep perfectly the Ten Commandments to become righteous, then Jesus died for nothing! That’s what “in vain” means—for nothing!

    So don’t frustrate the grace of God by depending on your good works to make yourself righteous and put God on your side. Jesus’ sacrifice is more than enough to justify you! And when you know that you are justified, you can be confident that the unmerited favor of God is on your side and expect good to happen to you today.

    Go here if you want to read more devotionals.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    Did you know God has forgiven all your sins?

    God has forgiven all your past, present and future sins.

    Here’s how that is true.

    You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

    Colossians 2:13–14 NLT

    When I preach on our total forgiveness in Christ, someone will inadvertently ask, “But Pastor Prince, if all my sins are forgiven, that means my future sins are too. But how can my future sins be forgiven?”

    Well, that’s a great question. The reality is, when Jesus died on the cross two thousand years ago, all our sins were in the future.

    There are people who argue that there is no Scripture that says that all our future sins are forgiven. They teach that when we receive Jesus, all our past sins are forgiven, but our future sins are only forgiven as we confess them and ask God for forgiveness.

    First let me say to those who claim there is no Bible verse stating that our future sins are forgiven, that there is also no Bible verse stating that only our past sins are forgiven! But there is a Scripture that clearly states, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7, emphasis mine).

    What does it mean for our sins to be completely forgiven?

    In the original Greek text, the verb for “have” is in the present tense, which indicates durative action, meaning we are continually having forgiveness of sins, including every sin we will ever commit.

    Furthermore, in 1 John 2:12, it says, “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.” The Greek perfect tense is used here for “are forgiven,” meaning this forgiveness is a definite action completed in the past, with the effect of this action continuing into the present. This means that God’s forgiveness avails for you in your present, and continues into your future. Do you see that?

    Next, I want you to consider today’s Scripture. Colossians 2:13–14 declares that Jesus forgave all our sins! The word “all” is the Greek pas, meaning “every kind or variety . . . the totality of the persons or things referred to.” It refers to “all, any, every, the whole.”

    So “all” means all. God’s forgiveness of our sins covers every sin—past, present, and future! When we received the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we received the total and complete forgiveness of all our sins.

    In Hebrews 10:11–14, the Bible says, “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”

    Now, according to this Scripture, as a believer, for how long are you perfected? Forever! How can you be perfected forever, if your future sins are not forgiven? Obviously, they are!

    This devotional if from pastor Joseph Prince. For more, go here.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    Always Remember That You Are God’s Beloved

    Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

    Ephesians 1:5–6

    Do you believe that you are beloved and highly favored by God? Ephesians 1:6 says, “to the praise of the glory of His grace [unmerited favor], by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”

    It is not possible for us to make ourselves accepted. We are made accepted by the glory of the Lord’s unmerited favor.

    The word “accepted” in Ephesians 1:6 is the Greek word charitoo. Now, the root word for charitoo is charis, which means “grace.” So charitoo simply means “highly graced” or “highly favored.” In other words, you are highly favored in the Beloved!

    Now, we know that “the Beloved” in Ephesians 1:6 refers to Jesus. If you read on, it says in the next verse that “In Him [Jesus the Beloved] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace [unmerited favor].”

    Now, why didn’t the Bible just say that we are highly favored in Jesus or in Christ? (There are no insignificant details in the Bible.) Why did the Holy Spirit choose specifically to say that we are highly favored “in the Beloved”?

    What does it mean to be God’s beloved?

    “Beloved” is a warm and intimate term that was used by God at the Jordan River to describe Jesus. The Bible tells us that when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. “He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Mark 1:10–11).

    God the Father spoke publicly and His words were recorded for you to know that to be “accepted in the Beloved” means that God is well pleased with you today. See yourself sandwiched right smack in the midst of Jesus, God’s loved.

    When God looks at you, He doesn’t see you in your failures and shortcomings. He sees you in Jesus’ perfection and loveliness!

    Because you are in Christ, God says to you, “You, _______________ (insert your name here), are My beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus is well-pleasing to God because He kept the law perfectly. You and I are well-pleasing to God because we are accepted and highly favored in God’s family, who took all our sins and fulfilled the law on our behalf!

    How was Jesus considered to God

    Immediately after Jesus was baptized, He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The devil came to Jesus and said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread” (Matt. 4:3).

    Now, don’t forget that Jesus had just heard the voice of His Father affirming Him with the words “You are My beloved Son.” Do you notice that the devil deliberately left out the word “beloved”?

    Friend, for the devil’s temptations to work, he cannot remind you that you are loved by God. one The moment you are reminded of your identity as God’s beloved in Christ, he will not be able to succeed!

    It is no wonder that the devil wants to rob believers of their sense of being God’s beloved. So don’t fall for the devil’s trick. Remind yourself today and every day that you are God’s loved!

    For more devotionals like this from pastor Joseph Prince, read here.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    Perfected Forever through Jesus’ Perfect Work

    But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God . . . For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

    Hebrews 10:12, 14

    As a believer, have you ever been plagued by thoughts of how you haven’t been good enough? Or haven’t done enough to deserve God’s blessings? That your imperfection disqualifies you from receiving anything good from God?. If you’ve been struggling with these thoughts, I want you to read and reread today’s scripture, Hebrews 10:12, 14, and let the verses saturate your heart, mind, and conscience. Let the knowledge of how you are completely forgiven and forever perfected by Jesus’ finished work at the cross sink in.

    You are not going to be forgiven and perfected one day through all your hard work. No, my friend, the good news is, you already are forgiven and perfected—once and for all time—through Jesus’ sacrifice.

    And how long is forever? I checked the original Greek word for forever in the verse and guess what? “Forever” means forever! You have been totally forgiven and perfected forever by Jesus’ cleansing blood, not by the blood of animal sacrifices that can never take away sins.

    What is the meaning of forever

    Pastor Prince, how can I be fully assured that all my sins have already been forgiven?

    Good question! Notice that after Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice and payment for all our sins, He “sat down” at the Father’s right hand. Jesus sat down to demonstrate to us that the work is indeed finished!

    Under the old covenant, the priest who served in the tabernacle of Moses never sat down. But “stands ministering daily” because his work could never be finished. The blood of bulls and goats could “never take away sins” (Heb. 10:11).

    Interestingly, in the holy place of the tabernacle of Moses, there was not a single piece of furniture prepared for the priest to sit on. You would not find a single chair in the holy place. You would find the altar of incense, the menorah, and even a table of showbread, but not chairs. This was because the work of the priest was never finished. Only Jesus’ work is a finished work.

    My friend, you can rest easy in your heart and mind today. You can relax because Jesus has finished the work. In God’s eyes, you are forever perfect, spotless, and washed whiter than snow by the precious, eternal blood of His Son. And it’s permanent!

    Your part is simply to believe and receive all that Jesus has done for you. That’s how you reign in life over sin, addictions, and whatever the enemy throws at you. That’s how you come up tops in all of life’s challenges!

    Here are more devotionals.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    Desire God’s Unmerited Favor, Not Favoritism

    And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

    Acts 7:9–10

    It is important for you to recognize that there is a significant difference between God’s unmerited favor and favoritism. God’s unmerited favor is based entirely on Jesus’ merit, and we received it through His finished work at the cross. We did nothing to deserve His favor. It is completely unmerited.

    Favoritism, however, stinks of self-effort. Individuals who rely on favoritism for promotion have to resort to apple polishing, office politics, manipulative tactics, backstabbing, and all kinds of compromises just to get what they want. They use all their efforts to open doors for themselves, and in the process, they lose themselves.

    God has a higher and better way for you. It hurts Him to see His precious children groveling like sycophants just to get ahead in life.

    If a door closes, so be it! Believe with full confidence that God has a better way for you. You do not have to depend on favoritism to keep opportunities open for yourself when you have God’s unmerited favor!

    How did God show favor to Joseph?

    That was how Joseph operated. He depended on the Lord for his success, and not on favoritism, which would have required him to compromise his beliefs. When Potiphar’s wife, who was likely one of the most beautiful women in the land, kept trying to seduce Joseph to sleep with her, Joseph stood his ground on the firm foundation of unmerited favor.

    He refused, saying, “There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he [Potiphar] kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Gen. 39:9).

    From his words, it is clear that Joseph knew the source of his success, favor, and blessings. Also, he did not see giving in to Potiphar’s wife as a great wickedness and sin against Potiphar alone, but against God too.

    He knew that every blessing that he had experienced was a result of the Lord’s favor on him. He knew that it was not Potiphar who promoted him from the position of a lowly slave to become the overseer of Potiphar’s entire estate. It was the Lord!

    Similarly in your life, know and rejoice that it is the Lord who is the source of your blessings and success! You don’t have to resort to trying to win the favor of significant people in your life. It is the Lord’s favor on you that sets you up for recognition, promotion, and increase.

    For more devotionals, go here.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    Did you know Satan has been disarmed?

    Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Colossians 2:14-15

    The Bible says that God has “disarmed principalities and powers,” referring to Satan and his cohorts (Eph. 6:12). So the devil has already been disarmed. But do you know what weapon he was wielding before his forced disarmament?

    Today’s Scripture gives us the answer clearly: the devil was armed with the “handwriting of requirements that was against us.” On Mount Sinai, God wrote the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone. The “handwriting of requirements” was thus a reference to the law that was written by the finger of God. 

    Let me stress that the law is holy, just, and good. It was designed by God to expose man’s weaknesses, sins, and inability to be holy, just, and good so that man would see his need for a Savior. You need to understand that no amount of keeping the law can make you holy. Only the blood of Jesus can do that.

    The devil then armed himself with the law to accuse and condemn man. Now, listen carefully to this: God didn’t give the law to arm the devil, but the devil, knowing that the law was against us, took advantage of it and has been using it as his weapon to further alienate us from God. 

    Why was the devil disarmed?

    That’s why when God nailed the law to the cross, He made a public spectacle of the devil and all the powers of darkness! Once the law was nailed to the cross of Jesus, God knew that the law no longer had the power to condemn us as long as we believed on Jesus. Therefore, when you know and believe that Jesus has fulfilled completely the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf, the devil cannot use the law to condemn you every time you fail.

    Today, if the enemy uses the law to point out your sins, look to the cross of Jesus and reject the condemnation. You may say, “No one can blot out God’s handwriting.” Yes, you are right. No man can, but God can! 

    And God did it righteously. My friend, you have been redeemed from the curse of the law. The devil and his crew have been disarmed. Hallelujah!

    Refuse to subject yourself any longer to the old covenant system of the law. Don’t put the weapon of the law back into the devil’s hands. Every teaching that says, “You have to keep the law to be blessed by God,” is doing just that. 

    Reject such legalistic teachings and rest in the truth of God’s disarmament and grace. The more you believe and embrace the truth of His grace, the more you are empowered to experience victory over your failings and challenges. This is how you reign, and when you reign, the devil doesn’t!

    This devotional is taken from Pastor Joseph Prince’s website.

    If you want to read more devotionals like this, click here.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    How to be satisfied every day

    Every day is a blessing and a new opportunty to live a worthy life.

    And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

    John 6:35

    I want to encourage you to make listening to the good news of Jesus a daily priority. Listen, I know just how busy our days can get. But when the day is over and we have heard nothing about Jesus, we feel empty, stressed out, worried, fearful, and depressed.

    My friend, Jesus is the bread of life and the living water. No matter how busy we get, it is prudent not to neglect feeding on His person.

    I know that in the natural, this can sound simplistic. You may be asking yourself, “How can simply listening about Jesus change things in my life and circumstances?” The truth is, the things of God are really not complicated.

    Just think about the woman who suffered from hemorrhaging for twelve years. Simply hearing about Jesus and His grace infused her with so much hope, so much faith, and so much courage that she was able to receive the healing she had started to believe for. Don’t underestimate the power of hearing about Jesus just because it sounds simple.

    There is a beautiful verse in the psalms that says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps. 90:12). Do you want to know the secret of numbering your days and not allowing a single day of your life to be put to waste?

    How can God satisfy us every day?

    The key is in verse 14, where it says, “Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy.” The word “mercy” here is the Hebrew word hesed, which means God’s grace. God is telling us to be satisfied every day with His grace.

    I suggest that before you do anything—read the papers, check your emails, or make that important phone call—start the day with Jesus and be satisfied with His grace. You can read a devotional about God’s grace, feed on the Father’s love, meditate on His grace, listen to a message that is all about Jesus, and open up His love letter—His Word—to you.

    But Pastor Prince, my mornings are hectic! How long do I spend doing this? How much must I read, listen, or pray?

    Beloved, the key is not to be legalistic about it. If morning doesn’t work for you, then find a time that best suits your schedule. It could be during your lunch break or just before you go to bed.

    The key principle here is God can satisfy us daily with His grace. Feed on Him until your heart is full and satisfied with His grace. It’s really not about the duration or how much, but your level of satisfaction.

    Enjoy God’s presence daily. He loves having a relationship with you and wants to fill your heart with His grace, peace, wisdom, and joy.

    You can read more devotionals here.