Joseph Prince (December-04-2025) Daily Devotional: Whose Love Is Perfect?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

When I was the president of my youth ministry, I used to preach hard and strong messages, telling my youths, “You’ve got to love God! You’ve got to love the Lord with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul!” All that time, when I was preaching this to the young people, I was wondering to myself, “How in the world do I do that?”

I would look at myself and check my heart, mind, and soul—did I really love the Lord that perfectly? How could I expect my youths to love the Lord that way when I knew that I myself had failed?

At that time, I was not established in the new covenant of grace yet. I did not know that by preaching that way, I was actually placing all my youths under the law because the sum total of the law is to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Matt. 22:37–40, Mark 12:29–30).

Let me ask you this: Has anybody ever been able to love the Lord with all his heart, mind, and soul? No one. Not a single person has been able to do that. God knew all the while that under the law, no one could love Him that perfectly. So do you know what He did? The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . .” I love that little word “so.” It speaks of the intensity with which God loves us.

When God sent Jesus, He was effectively saying this to us: “I know that you can’t love Me perfectly, so watch Me now. I will love you with all My heart, all My soul, all My mind, and all My strength.” And He stretched His arms wide and died for us. This is what the Bible says about what Jesus did on the cross: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5:7–9).

My friend, the cross is not a demonstration of our perfect love and devotion to God. The cross is God’s demonstration of His perfect love and His perfect grace (unmerited favor) toward us, for it was while we were still sinners that Jesus died for us. He did not die for you and me because of our perfect love for God. He died for you and me because of HIS perfect love for us!

Let me give you the Bible's definition of love to make this even clearer for you: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Beloved, that's the emphasis of the new covenant of grace (unmerited favor)—HIS love for us, not our love for Him!

As we raise up a new generation of believers, let us raise up a generation that is impacted by God’s unmerited favor and that boasts in His love for us. When we receive His love for us and start believing that we are His beloved, look at the result that 1 John 4:11 spells out: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” Notice that the love for one another comes after our experience of His love for us! It stems from an overflow.

You cannot love others when you have not first been filled by His love. And when you are overflowing with His love, you will fulfill the law effortlessly without even trying because God’s Word tells us, “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10).

Step into that river today. Change the quality of your relationships by believing and being conscious of the fact that you are His beloved!

Joseph Prince (December-03-2025) Daily Devotional: Oh, What Joy!

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 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!

My friend, 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.

Joseph Prince (December-02-2025) Daily Devotional: When the Storms of Life Rage

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

Storms of life. You know them well. They overwhelm you. Wave after wave of relentless battering that knocks you off your feet till you don’t know which side is up. Till every ounce of energy is used up and you feel so weak, abandoned, and lonely. Perhaps you’re caught in one of life’s storms right now.

When the disciples of Jesus were out at sea, caught in a turbulent tempest and tossed by the waves, who came to them in their darkest hour? It was Jesus Himself (Matt. 14:22–33). Jesus came in style, walking on the raging waters. The loving Savior came to them at their exact point of need to rescue them.

What does this tell you? That He is above the storms. He walks above—He is greater than—every adversity and opposition that you may be facing right now, and He comes to you to rescue you!

With the billowing waves beneath His feet, His first words to His disciples were, “Don’t be afraid. Take courage. I am here!” (Matt. 14:27 NLT). What comfort those words must have brought to the disciples who were exhausted and shaking with fear for their lives.

My friend, when the storms of life rage, don’t go by what you see and hear all around you. Don’t go by your negative feelings and emotions. Live by the truth of God’s Word, which encourages you to “be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic . . . For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you” (Deut. 31:6 NLT).

Our God is a personal and loving God who is with you in your boat right in the midst of the howling storm. He knows how to lead you to victory every time. He cannot fail you!

Joseph Prince (December 1, 2025) Daily Devotional: Find Friends Who Can Carry You

Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. - Mark 2:3

Sometimes it is difficult for us to have faith when we are on our own. When you have no strength and no faith, you need others to pull you through. I want to share with you a precious testimony from Audrey, a leader in my church who experienced that for herself.

In the twenty-ninth week of her pregnancy, her water broke and she was admitted to the hospital for bed rest. Friends prayed with her and her husband, encouraged them, and believed with them for the birth of a healthy baby. She and her husband partook of the holy Communion as frequently as they were able to.

In the thirtieth week, baby Jenna was born, weighing 1.5 kg (3.3 lb), thankfully with no major complications. She was able to breathe on her own and all her organs were functioning properly. She gradually progressed from a tiny baby supported by tubes and needles to tube feeding and finally to normal feeding.

Audrey’s daily commute to the hospital was exhausting, but she was thankful for kingdom friends who kept them in prayer. Many of them partook of the holy Communion on their own as they prayed for Jenna and her parents. After forty days in the hospital, Jenna was finally allowed to go home.

However, Jenna was soon back in the hospital ICU as her heart rate suddenly became critically low and later became too high. Audrey was devastated and by this time was “out of prayer and out of faith.” But church leaders and friends kept surrounding them in an environment of faith and prayer even when they kept meeting with setbacks.

During that period, Audrey shared that I preached a fresh message about the Communion in church, and after she heard it, she and her husband persevered and kept partaking of the Communion for baby Jenna until finally she was out of danger. It was an arduous journey, but Jenna went home strong and healthy. Hallelujah! Audrey shared:

As I think of how Jesus healed the paralytic based on the faith of the four friends who lowered him through the roof, I thank God we also had these “four friends.” Our friends continually prayed for Jenna and encouraged us to press in to claim God’s healing and to partake of the holy Communion.

If you have been dealing with a long, drawn-out medical condition or you are exhausted from caring for a loved one, depression can creep in as the burden gets too heavy for you. My friend, bring your cares to God, knowing He cares about you with deepest affection, and watches over you so very carefully (1 Pet. 5:7 AMP).

At the same time, I want you to know God never meant for you to function in a vacuum. His heart is for you to be planted in a local church and not forsake “the assembling of ourselves together” but to exhort and encourage one another (Heb. 10:25). The church is not perfect by any means. But we have a perfect Savior who has done a perfect work on the cross, and there is safety, healing, and provision in the house of God.

Joseph Prince (November-30-2025) Daily Devotional: In the Place of Nearness

Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our LORD. Romans 8:38–39

You may have read of how Joseph in the book of Genesis wanted his family to dwell in Goshen, which means “drawing near.” He wanted them in a place of nearness to him and he told them, “There I will provide for you” (Gen. 45:11).

Beloved, even in the midst of famine, Jesus, our heavenly Joseph, wants us close to Him so He can provide for us. In the book of Exodus, God declared, “I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there” (Exod. 8:22).

In the land of Goshen, God’s people were protected from all of the ten plagues that besieged the land of Egypt during the time of Moses. In the second last of the ten plagues, a thick, paralyzing darkness covered the land of Egypt for three whole days. Yet, during that time, “all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings” (Exod. 10:23).

I believe it was a supernatural darkness that covered Egypt, because the Egyptians must have turned to natural resources of light to dispel the darkness—only to find they couldn’t. By the same token, it was a supernatural light that the Israelites enjoyed in Goshen, a light the darkness tried to smother but couldn’t.

Now, I believe this is prophetic of our times. The Bible is relevant for today. We are living in days where we see darkness—a supernatural darkness—cover the earth. Yet, the Scriptures tell us that even when there’s thick and deep darkness all around, the church—you and I, together with our families—can experience and enjoy God’s supernatural light in our dwellings. We, who have been drawn near to Him through the work of His Son, can have intimacy with God and enjoy His protective covering to live fear-free and victoriously in these dark times.

Beloved, in the place of nearness, God makes a difference between His people and the people of the world. We are in this world, but we are not of this world (John 17:14). We are His. He desires for us to be close to Him so that He can hide us under the shadow of His wings. He paid the price so that we can be called His children. Oh, what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons and daughters of the Most High (1 John 3:1)!

Beloved, whatever may be happening in the world today, you can be bold and fearless because nothing can ever separate you from the love of God, your heavenly Father!