Joseph Prince (January-17-2025) Daily Devotional: Always Accepted in Christ

 

“You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD. . . . So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things . . . and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.” Exodus 28:36, 38

In the Old Testament, Aaron was the first high priest of Israel. The high priest of Israel is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our permanent High Priest today. God instructed that the golden plate of the miter (headdress), which has the Hebrew words Kadosh Le Yahweh (“Holiness to the Lord”) engraved on it, should always be on the forehead of the high priest so that all Israel would be accepted before God (see the illustration).

God-themed merchandise

The high priest wears a gold plate
bearing the words, “Holiness to the Lord”
on his forehead.

What this means is that even when Israel failed in their thought life, they were still accepted by God because He judged the nation of Israel based on their high priest. If the high priest was accepted, the entire nation was accepted.

Today we have a perfect High Priest in Christ. It’s not your thoughts that qualify you to be accepted by God. Under the new covenant of grace, God is no longer judging you based on your thoughts. God judges you based on His Son.

If He is righteous, God sees you as righteous. If He is blessed, God sees you as blessed. If He is under God’s unclouded favor, God sees you as under His unclouded favor. If His thoughts are always perfect and filled with holiness unto God, God sees your thoughts as perfect in Christ!

Today when the devil comes to torment your mind, point him to Jesus. Jesus’ thoughts are always holy. Remember how the golden plate is always around the forehead of your High Priest and His thoughts are always filled with holiness to God.

Look at Exodus 28:38 again: “It shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord.” Therefore, even when your thought life isn’t always perfect, know that Jesus’ thoughts are always perfect.

God-themed merchandise

And it’s because of His perfection that you are always accepted in Him before God. God will never reject you because your thoughts are imperfect. He is looking at Jesus, and as long as His thoughts are holy, you are accepted!

Joseph Prince (January-16-2025) Daily Devotion: Be Numbered Among the Undevourable

1 Peter 5:8 - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

The devil cannot just walk right up to you and rob you of your health, peace or family. He cannot just come into your life to enforce disease and destruction.

If the devil can do that, then he does not have to walk about “seeking whom he may devour.” He only has to walk straight up to anyone he wants to devour and devour him! But since  the Bible says that he goes about seeking whom he may devour, the truth then is that there are people whom he cannot devour.

You see, the devil goes about like a roaring lion trying to stir up fear in people with his roars. But the people who are not devourable are those who refuse to be intimidated by his roars because they know that the true Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ (see Revelation 5:5), has already come and rendered powerless him who had the power of death (see Hebrews 2:14, NASB). They know that the devil cannot just do anything to them because the Lion of Judah resides in them, and that He is greater than the devil who is in the world (see 1 John 4:4).

My friend, the Lion of Judah is in you. He has given you rights, privileges, authority and power. He redeemed you with His blood. Therefore, everything about you and your life is redeemed by His blood. So if you are fearful about losing your job, cover your job with the blood of Jesus. If you are worried about your children’s safety in these days of terrorist attacks, plead the blood of Jesus over them. If you have received a bad report from the doctor, speak the blood over yourself.

Whatever you have covered with the blood of Jesus, God declares, “Protected! Redeemed!” And the devil flees when he sees the blood. And when he flees, he takes with him sicknesses, diseases, pains, sufferings, destruction and loss.

Once the devil knows that you know who you are in Christ and what you have in Him, his days of intimidating you are over, and you are numbered among the undevourable!