• Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    How to know if God loves you

    God loves you more than you can imagine.

    Check out this devotional written by Pastor Joseph Prince.

    Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

    Romans 5:1–2

    God’s word tells us that “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52).

    This is a good verse to pray and speak over your children—that they first increase in favor with God and then in favor with man. Your “vertical relationship” with God should always be given priority over your “horizontal relationship” with the people around you.

    Like Jesus, you can increase in wisdom and in God’s unmerited favor. How?

    You have probably noticed that some believers seem to experience a lot more unmerited favor than others. I believe that this is because these believers understand the key to accessing God’s favor.

    Romans 5:2 clearly spells out that “we have access by faith into this grace [unmerited favor] in which we stand.”

    To gain access to your computer or your bank account, you need a password. To gain access to and increase in God’s unmerited favor, the “password” or key that we need to have is faith, faith to believe that YOU, _______________ (insert your name), are highly favored!

    One of the things that I have taught my church members to do is to declare over themselves that they are greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved.

    “How do we know that we are greatly blessed, Pastor Prince?”

    Read Hebrews 6:13–14 for yourself. God wanted us to be so anchored in the sure and steadfast knowledge that He will bless us, the seed of Abraham, that He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”

    “How can we say that we are highly favored?”

    Ephesians 1:6 tells us that by God’s grace (unmerited favor), God “made us accepted in the Beloved.” In the original Greek text, the word “accepted” is the word charitoo, which means “highly favored.”

    “And are we really deeply loved by God?”

    God didn’t just love us. John 3:16 says that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” He demonstrated how He SO loved us when He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us.

    I pray that the verses I have shown you here will help you believe that through Jesus, you are indeed greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved. If these truths are still not established in your heart, start speaking them.

    Look at yourself in the mirror every morning and declare boldly, “Because of Jesus’ perfect work on the cross, I am righteous by His blood, and I am greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved! I expect good things to come my way. I expect good success and I have a confident expectation of good!”

    Once you receive Christ, you are standing on favor ground. You are no longer on condemnation ground. God looks on you as His favorite child!

    God loves you as a favorite

    “But Pastor Prince, how can God have so many favorites?”

    Hey, He is God. Don’t try to limit an infinite God with your finite mind.

    The Bible tells us that God counts the very hairs on each of our heads (Matt. 10:30). I love my daughter very much, but I have never counted the number of strands of hair on her head.

    His love for each of us is intimate and deeply personal. In His eyes, we are all His favorites!

    Al lyou need to do is to believe that God loves you. He is love.

    Read similar blogs about who God is here.

  • Godly Living Posts / Quotes

    Unveiling the Heart of the Father

    “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. . . . But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

    Luke 15:20, 22–24

    One of the most beautiful parables in the Bible is the parable of the father of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32). Many commentators call this the parable of the prodigal son. But the real hero of this story is the father and his love for his two sons. It’s a parable that Jesus used to skillfully unveil to us the true heart of our gracious God. It shows how loving our heavenly Father is.

    Why should you read the parable of the prodigal son?

    Please take a few minutes to read through the full parable. As you read through it, consider this: What is your opinion of God, especially when you’ve made a mistake? Do you see Him as an all-powerful, distant, and unfeeling judge? The one who is angry whenever you fail and who constantly has to be appeased?

    Or do you know Him as your Daddy? Your Abba Father whom you can run to anytime, even when you have fallen short? Do you see Him as unwaveringly and patiently waiting for you to return to Him. And then racing down the road to meet you with tears streaming down His face. Also embracing you, and raining His kisses upon you?

    As I was studying the Word, the Lord revealed to me that many believers have come to a place where they have forgotten their heavenly Father. They have forgotten about His love, His grace, and His loving-kindness.

    Do you see God as your father?

    They relate to God in a judicial and transactional fashion. That is they come before Him with apprehension and trepidation, presenting their failings to Him. Then they quickly leave before they get the punishment and condemnation they think they rightly deserve from Him.

    They perceive Him exclusively as a God of holiness, judgment, and justice. That is, his face steely and stern, His mighty arms folded in dissatisfaction and disapproval. Equally, they see a God who is easily displeased, quick to anger, perpetually disappointed with them, and waiting impatiently to be placated.

    This wrong belief of who God really is has driven many into fear, guilt, depression, and insecurity. And that is why it’s so vital we see the heart of the Father as unveiled by Jesus in this timeless parable.

    Beloved, do you see His heart of love for you? There is a vacuum in our hearts that can only be filled by the Father’s love. I believe that if you would allow the Father to come into your heart today and fill you up with His perfect love, you will find the joy, confidence, fulfillment, and freedom that you have been looking for in life.

    Read more devotionals by Pastor Joseph Prince, here.