Shalom,

Today I am loving Joseph Prince's "Daily Grace Inspirations" devotional!

God Is Your Refuge from Evil

Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. Psalm 91:9–10 KJV

Isn’t the above passage beautiful in the King James Version? You can make the Lord your habitation.

First John 4:16 says, “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” The more you stay in His love, the more God Himself becomes your dwelling place. No evil shall befall you and no plague shall come near your dwelling. And as you make Him your dwelling place, He protects your dwelling. No plague shall even come near your home!

In another psalm, it is written, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). As we make the Lord our city of refuge and allow Him to put us upon His shoulders, He becomes our “very present help” even if we encounter trouble.

Iris from Australia experienced God’s protection for herself when a cyclone hit the area she lived in. Read her testimony here:

A mini cyclone hit our street and the surrounding area recently. As I huddled in the hallway with my husband and our cat, I declared, “Thank You, Jesus, that You are the calm in the storm!”

When the wind stopped, we went outside and saw a lot of fallen trees on the road. The trees in our street were huge and as tall as thirty meters. As a result, many cars were crushed by the trees and some houses were also damaged. My husband’s work car was damaged slightly but our family car was left unscathed. And praise the Lord no one was injured!

As the damaged trees were being cut down across the road, I realized something. The path of the wind had cut through a few properties across the road and when it came near our house, it stopped completely! It did not come near us and our house was completely undamaged.

Everyone in our street was so surprised that the big tree in our backyard was untouched and that we had no cleanup of our own to do. Praise Jesus! He is the calm, peace, and protection I need!

Wow, praise the Lord! I love this testimony—when the Lord Himself is your refuge and your protection, even cyclones have to stop in their tracks when they come near you!

AMEN! I hope that YOU will learn to trust COMPLETELY in the GOODNESS of GOD! Here is Brandon Lake with "Count 'Em":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Here is today's "Faith Food" devotional by Kenneth E. Hagin.

A Great Plan!

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. — GENESIS 3:15

Man fell.

But God had a plan — a great plan — redemption! God assumed the liabilities of man’s transgressions and redeemed him from Satan’s dominion. God had a plan to give life back to man. God’s plan allowed man’s nature to be changed back into harmony with God’s nature.

God cannot ignore man’s transgressions. Justice demanded that the penalty for man’s crime be paid — but man himself was unable to pay it. Therefore, because man couldn’t save himself, God had to provide a Redeemer.

No sooner had man fallen under the dominion of his enemy, Satan, than God began to speak forth His plan concerning the Coming One. This One, the seed of woman (for it was prophesied that a woman would give birth to a child independent of natural generation) would break Satan’s dominion over man! This One would set men free! This One would bruise the head of the serpent!

In Oriental languages, “bruising the head” means breaking the lordship of a ruler. When God spoke those words to Satan in Genesis 3:15, Satan had just come into the dominion meant to belong to man. But God spoke forth that his Wonderful Seed of woman would come to break Satan’s lordship.

Confession: Thank You, Father, for Your great plan of redemption, which You planned and sent the Lord Jesus Christ to consummate.

AMEN! LEARN and NEVER FORGET all that JESUS provided for us through His death, burial and RESURRECTION! YOU are the very reaon that He DID what He DID! Here is Brandon Lake with "Praise You Anywhere":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom

Today I want to share a powerful message from Joseph Prince's "Daily Grace Inspirations" devotional.

What Spiritual Warfare Looks Like

“You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” 1 Samuel 17:45

To show you what it means to engage in spiritual warfare, let me share with you the precious journey taken by Anna, who was part of our ministry team for my Grace Revolution Tour. While she was in Dallas, Texas, she went through a horrifying ordeal.

She recounted experiencing a numbness in her legs that quickly progressed to her diaphragm. Unable to move, she was rushed to the emergency room where she underwent a five-hour emergency surgery for spinal cord compression caused by multiple lesions and tumorous growths along her entire spinal cord. Without warning, she found herself bedridden with stage-four cancer that had metastasized from the thoracic area to her neck and bones. Given a life expectancy of three years, this is how she described her battle:

All that I, a frightened sheep, could do was to just stay really close to the Great Shepherd. During my entire thirty-three days of hospitalization, Jesus became my impenetrable “safe house,” protecting me from further assaults by the devil. I requested for visitors to be kept to a minimum, choosing to spend the time with the One whose very presence and words were now my very life and healing. Just hearing the way the doctors and nurses talked about my cancer caused the life and peace in me to leak—I felt that I had touched death.

But I remained in my “safe house,” Jesus. I fed on God’s Word during my waking hours, often drifting off to sleep with Pastor Prince’s sermons playing on my iPad. Every time I took my cancer medication, and after undergoing each round of radiotherapy, I would also partake of the holy Communion. I believe that was the reason I didn’t experience any of the side effects, except for temporary hair loss, throughout my fifteen cycles of radiotherapy treatment. I just continued daily in the Word and in partaking of the holy Communion.

The cancer was real, but Anna knew the true battle was a spiritual one. Of course, she was fearful. But she is a child of God and was not going to take the enemy’s attacks lying down or allow him to intimidate her. She fought back, armed with the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17), knowing that her God was backing her up all the way.

Anna reminds me of how David refused to cow in fear before the giant Goliath as the other soldiers of Israel did. Rather, he got angry and demanded to know “who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samual 17:26). David was conscious only of how big his God was. The enemy may come against you with a sword, spear, and javelin, but when you come to him in the name of the Lord of hosts, that Goliath is no match for your God!

Notice that Anna did what she could to control her atmosphere! By not allowing just anyone in her room, she protected her heart and her faith from the influence of the enemy through doubt ad unbelief! Our Goddaughter-in-love did this very thing for her two sons who were born very early and spent time in the NICU. She would not allow anyone to speak doubt and unbelief in the presence of her babies! In fact, she had one particularly negative nurse completely removed from being anywhere near her child! Her sons grew strong and healthy with none of the side effects that are sometimes found in NICU babies! I encourage you to fill your heart and mind with God's powerful WORDS of health and healing, provision and prosperity, the promises of God for your children and families! God honors HIS WORD! Here is Brandon Lake with "Tear Off The Roof":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Today I want to share this powerful message from Kenneth and Gloria Copeland's "From Faith To Faith" devotional.

Love: The Secret of Success

Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:8, The Amplified Bible

Fear of failure. It's haunted all of us at some time in our lives. Popular psychology tells us to adjust to it. But the Word of God tells us that there is a failure-proof way to live without it. It is the way of love.

If you want to know real success, you must learn to be moved and motivated by love. That's how Jesus was when He was on the earth.

Even when John the Baptist was senselessly, brutally murdered and Jesus went away to be alone, He didn't deviate from the way of love. For Matthew 14:6-14 says that even then in that emotionally taxing time when the people followed Him and would give Him no solitude, He was moved with compassion and healed their sick.

I used to wonder how Jesus could just turn away from that terrible crime and not retaliate. What I didn't realize was that He did retaliate. He overcame the works of Satan with compassion. He defeated hatred with love. He attacked Satan in the spirit realm by destroying his works of sickness and disease.

Compassion doesn't strike at the surface of things. It goes to the root of the problem. That's why it always succeeds.

"But wait!" you may say. "I can't operate like that. I'm not Jesus."

Yes you can, because the Word of God says that His love has been shed abroad in your heart! (Romans 5:5). And 1 John 2:5 says His love is perfected in you as you keep His Word.

Commit to living the life of love today. Watch God turn failure into success at home, at work...in any situation. Love never fails!

AMEN! When YOU choose to live this LOVE out in your life, you will find that everything in your life will become better and more BLESSED! Here is Brandon Lake with "Nothing New":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom, 

I want to share again today from Joseph Prince's "Daily Grace Inspirations" devotional!

What Imparts Faith

“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”  Acts 13:38–39

In Acts 14:8–10, where Paul heals a crippled man in Lystra, we see that Paul does not lay his hands on the man to heal him. The faith to be healed came from just listening to Paul preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and when he simply responded to the apostle’s command to stand up, he was healed.

While what Paul preached to the man was not recorded for us, we do have one of Paul’s sermons recorded word for word for us by the Holy Spirit in the preceding chapter (Acts 13:16–41). And the highlight or climax of that sermon is found in today’s scripture.

Now, listen carefully to this: the power of the gospel that Paul preached to the crippled man is found in the forgiveness of all your sins for “everyone who believes.” There is no other qualification for being forgiven of all your sins.

The old covenant was based on justification by works (obedience to the Ten Commandments). You had to perform to be forgiven. But the new covenant of grace is based entirely on justification by faith (believing in Jesus Christ). Can you see the radical difference?

The demand is no longer on you, but on Christ. This is the good news: all who believe in Jesus receive the forgiveness of all their sins and are justified from all things! Good news? Hallelujah! There is no better news than this!

We have experienced this time and again in our church services. As people are sitting in the service and hearing the gospel of grace and Jesus’ finished work being preached, healing miracles break forth!

This has happened not just in our church services, but also in other places. One of my dear friends, a pastor of a dynamic grace church in Holland, shared with me a wonderful healing miracle that took place in his car as he was driving to Romania with a few friends. On this particular day, he was on his way to Romania for a preaching engagement. He was listening to one of my sermons in his car, something that he did often.

Lulled by the monotony of the long drive, one of his friends dozed off in the backseat. This friend had been involved in a jet ski accident some years ago, and since then he often suffered sharp pains in his back. Somehow, through the fog of sleep, he heard me preach this: “Jesus has already healed you and the devil is the one giving you lying symptoms in your body.”

He said “Amen!” in his heart, agreeing that Jesus had already healed him by taking his sin and bearing his sicknesses and pains on the cross. At that moment, he felt the power of God go through him, and he was completely healed! All the pain in his back was gone!

That’s the power of hearing and hearing the gospel of Jesus. That’s how faith comes! The more of Jesus you hear, the more of His grace you receive. The more revelation you get of His finished work, the more you will receive an impartation of faith for any situation, even the seemingly impossible ones!

AMEN! BE the one who agrees with GOD and HIS WORD! Then say to the Lord "Be it unto me according to Your WORD" He is FAITHFUL! You can COUNT ON HIM! Here is Brandon Lake with "Tear Off The Roof":

Shalom in Him! 

Shalom,

Today I want to share this devotional from Kenneth and Gloria Copeland's "From Faith To Faith":

Press In

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.... Colossians 3:16

Things in this old world aren't getting any better, and in recent times, the Holy Spirit has been speaking an urgent message to my heart. He's been saying, Press in. Draw in to a more intimate relationship with your heavenly Father. If you don't, you won't make it. If you do, you will see more glorious outpourings of God than you can imagine.

That message isn't just for me. It's also for you—and for every other believer on the earth today. We are in the last of the last days of this age. Jesus is coming soon. It's an exciting time, but it's also a dangerous time. Those who don't do what the Spirit says, who don't press in to the Lord, are going to go from disaster to disaster. But those who do will defeat the disasters and turn them into glory, in Jesus' Name!

Your first step in drawing closer to God is to realize that you know God first in His Word. Time spent meditating in the New Testament is time spent with Jesus.

Most people don't realize that. So, instead of getting to know the Lord through His Word, they try to know Him through their feelings and that just won't work.

Letting the Word dominate your thinking is to allow the Holy Spirit to have control over your mind. As you do that, your feelings will eventually fall in line.

Remember this: John 1 tells us that Jesus is the Word. That means, when you spend time in it, you're spending time with Jesus. When His Word is dwelling in you richly, then Jesus is dwelling in you richly too!

Don't go from disaster to disaster. Take those disasters and turn them into glory, in Jesus' Name. Press in to Jesus. Press in to the Word and you'll make it through these dangerous days just fine!

AMEN! HE is waiting on YOU! Here is Hillsong with "Desert Song":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Today I want to share this devotional from Jerry Savelle Ministries!

You Are A New Creation

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

God’s Word is clear: once you come to Jesus, once you make Him Lord of your life, you become a new creation. The literal translation of this Scripture says you are “a new species of being that never existed before.”

You may not feel like a new creation, but don’t be moved by what you feel. God’s Word says the old has passed away and you have already been made a new creation—regardless of how you feel or how you act.

The moment you were born again, your old self—with its sinful nature—died and a new person with the life and nature of God was created.

Physically, you looked the same because your body is only a house for the real you, your spirit. But on the inside, you changed completely. You became a righteous creation with the nature of God.

On February 11, 1969, at 3 o’clock in the morning, the old Jerry Savelle died when I met Jesus, and a new Jerry Savelle came into existence. I am not the same man I once was.

You may say, “But, Brother Jerry, I don’t feel like I’m a new creation.” You may not feel like it, you may not act like it, but the fact is, you are a new creation—because God’s Word says it’s true.

Confession: Thank You, Father, for making me a new creation in Christ. Because I have the life and nature of God within me, I refuse to be moved by what I see or what I feel. I walk by faith in what your Word says about me. I am a new creation!

AMEN! Never allow yourself to lose sight of WHO HE MADE YOU TO BE!!! Here is Hillsong with "Who You Say I Am" with subtitles

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Today's "Faith Food" devotional by Kenneth E. Hagin is another favorite!

He’s The Way Out

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore. . . . I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him . . . . — PSALM 91:14-15

God didn’t say you weren’t going to have trouble. In fact, He rather infers that you will have trouble because you’re a Christian! The world will persecute you, talk about you, speak evil of you. An enemy is arrayed against you. The god of this world puts pressure on you at
every turn (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Some people think it’s God who is putting pressure on them, but it isn’t. Jesus contrasted His works and the works of the devil like this: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). God is not a thief. That which steals, kills, and destroys is the devil — not God.

God says in His Word, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). The word “afflictions” here means tests and trials. And that’s what your troubles are. But the Lord has promised to deliver you out of how many of them: half? No! Out of them all! The Lord didn’t just promise to be with you in trouble and then stop there. He’s there to deliver you out of that trouble. And He’s more than enough!

Confession: I have set my love upon God; therefore, no matter what the test or trial, I know that El Shaddai is with me to deliver me. And He’s more than enough!

AMEN! Never forget that it is GOD Who LOVES you and the devil who HATES GOD so much that he tries to hurt GOD by hurting YOU! Find out who YOU are in JESUS and refust to give up any more ground to the enemy! REJOICE! He has been defeated soundly! Here is Tauren Wells with "Take It All Back":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Today I want to share this EXCELLENT teaching by Joseph Prince from his "Daily Grace Inspirations" devotional!

Know the Truth that Liberates

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32

A good friend of mine who’s a fellow minister once suggested to the dean of a reputable Bible school that “grace” be incorporated into the school’s curriculum. The dean replied, “You have to be careful when it comes to grace.” This apprehension about grace is prevalent in many Christian circles. The moment they hear “grace,” they go on high alert!

I told my minister friend that I don’t agree grace should be a topic in a Bible school’s curriculum. Grace is not a topic—grace is the gospel. It is the good news! The word “gospel” simply means “good news.” Grace is not a theology topic, doctrine, or subject. It is a person, and His name is Jesus. That’s the reason the Lord wants you to receive the abundance of grace, for to have the abundance of grace is to have the abundance of Jesus!

John 1:17 says, “the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”. Do you see? The law was given, implying a sense of distance, but grace came in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the personification of grace. Jesus is grace! Now, I want you to notice something else too: based on this scripture, truth is on the side of grace and not on the side of the law.

Today’s scripture declares that “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Well, my friend, grace is the (definite article) truth that will set you free, not the law of Moses. The law is on the side of Moses, but grace and truth are on the same side as our Savior. Yet, there are people today holding on to the law of Moses and preaching it as if it is the “truth” that liberates. My friend, the grace of God is the only truth that liberates! Truth is on the side of grace!

Unfortunately, there are well-meaning people today who are afraid that when you tell a believer that he is completely forgiven by grace and no longer has to earn his right standing before the Lord via the law of Moses, it will cause him to go out and live a life of sin and debauchery. However, the Bible is very clear that the “strength of sin is the law” (1 Corinthians 15:56).

It is not grace that gives people the strength to sin; it is the law! The more you are under the law, the more sin is strengthened! Conversely, the more you are under grace, the more sin will be depleted of its strength.

In fact, the Bible declares that “sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:14). Now, don’t just gloss over this powerful revelation. This means that the more grace you receive, the more power you have to overcome sin. In other words, sin shall not have dominion over you when you receive the abundance of grace!

So who switched the roles? Will the real gospel please stand up? Do you see how the devil has pulled the wool over the eyes of God’s sheep and put up fences surrounding the gospel of grace?

My friend, the truth that has the power to break down your prison doors and make you free is the truth of His grace. Your freedom is found in believing in Jesus—His grace and His love in your life. Every dark thought and evil addiction that may have held you captive cannot but scatter when they are exposed to the light of His grace and truth!

AMEN! GRACE! God's unmerited FAVOR!!! We didn't DESERVE IT! We didn't EARN IT! HE FREELY GAVE it to everyone who recieved JESUS as LORD and PERSONAL SAVOUR! BELIEVE it! RECEIVE it! HALLELUJAH!!! Here is Brooke Ligertwood with "Ancient Gates":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

In today's Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan we read Proverbs 4. These verses really stood out to me! 

5 Get skillful and godly Wisdom, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation); do not forget and do not turn back from the words of my mouth.
6 Forsake not [Wisdom], and she will keep, defend, and protect you; love her, and she will guard you.
7 The beginning of Wisdom is: get Wisdom (skillful and godly Wisdom)! [For skillful and godly Wisdom is the principal thing.] And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation).
8 Prize Wisdom highly and exalt her, and she will exalt and promote you; she will bring you to honor when you embrace her.

I LOVE these verses! And my MOST favorite? Verse 7! The BEGINNING of WISDOM is:   GET WISDOM!

AMEN! Our Father has ALL of the Widom we need, SO GO GET IT! Here is Brandon Lake and Cody Carnes with "Too Good To Not Believe":

Shalom in Him

Shalom,

We read Proverbs 3 in our Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan for today and I want you to really GET this:

5 Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. 6 In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn [entirely] away from evil. 8 It shall be health to your nerves and sinews, and marrow and moistening to your bones.

AMEN! The LORD JESUS has already invited you to have intimate fellowship with HIM! He desires to be known by you! Give Him your time and He will show you HIS HEART! Here is Hillsong with an older song called "I Give You My Heart":

Shalom in Him!

Shalom,

Today I want to share Andrew Wommach's daily devotional!

Pilate Violates The Truth

Matthew 27:17 'Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, 'Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ''?

Although Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent, he looked for some diplomatic way to release Jesus that would not cause him to lose popularity with the Jewish leaders. This is why he sent Jesus to Herod. He hoped that Herod would pass judgment on Jesus and save him the trouble.

When that scheme failed, Pilate drew on an old custom of releasing a prisoner to the people at the feast. He gave them a choice between Jesus, who he knew was innocent, and Barabbas, who was a murderer. Pilate thought that the crowd would certainly choose Jesus. However, through the insistence of the chief priests and scribes, the people chose Barabbas to be released.

Pilate was now out of ideas as to how to let Jesus go, and still save face with the Jews, so he condemned Jesus to death. Pilate violated what he knew to be true in his heart because of a fear of men (Proverbs 29:25) and what he thought they might do to him. Without the chief priests' cooperation, he ran the risk of unrest among the Jews, and possible punishment by Caesar for failing to govern well.

As it turned out, Pilate was deposed anyway, just a few years later by Tiberius Caesar, and died in exile in Gaul in A.D. 41. At the most, Pilate gained a five-year extension of his troubled rule, and damned his soul in the process. What a person compromises to keep, he'll lose. Sin is never worth the price.

NEVER compromise the WORD of GOD!  Here is Hillsong with "Your Word":

Shalom in Him!