Joseph Prince (October-31-2023) Daily Devotional: The Law Demands, Grace Supplies

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8–9 NLT

In Luke 18, we read about a rich young ruler, who came to Jesus saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). I believe that through this story, the Lord wants to help us understand that we can be justified only by faith and not our works.

Justification by faith produces hope, peace, and joy and a heart for Jesus that results in good fruit. Attempting to be justified by works produces fear, anxiety, and an inability to produce lasting fruit.

When the rich young ruler came wanting to be justified by his works, the Lord gave him the law to bring him to the end of himself. Jesus said to the rich young ruler who thought he had kept all the laws, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

The rich young ruler was found lacking in one thing. The very first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Ex. 20:3). Yet money was his god—he walked away sorrowful when the Lord asked him to sell all that he had (Luke 18:20–23).

There is no record that he gave even one nickel to the poor. But look at what happened when Jesus invited Himself to Zacchaeus’s house. Not one commandment, just pure grace was given. And it resulted in Zacchaeus’s giving half his wealth to the poor and making a public commitment to repay fourfold to everyone he had stolen from!

The law demands, grace supplies.

The law demands, and it results in fear, guilt, and sorrow. Grace supplies, and it produces generosity, holiness, and inward heart transformation.

Now, you tell me, which gospel should we preach? Justification by works through the law? Or justification by faith through the power of God’s grace?

Unfortunately, there are many believers who after they have been saved are taught and believe, like the rich young ruler, that they can be justified before God only by their works. They end up conscious of failing Him and with a fearful expectation of God’s punishment and judgment.

Every bad thing that happens to them reinforces that fear. Even when things are going well, they are fearful of losing God’s blessings or protection because of a mistake they may have just made.

The result? Insecurity, dread, anxiety, and all kinds of fears become constant companions that rob them of the joy of living, let alone living life with boldness and confidence.

Beloved, no man can meet the demands of the law and be justified. We can be justified only by faith in the blood of the Lamb. If you are not anchored in this truth and if your conscience is not washed by the Lamb’s blood, you will always be fearful.

Our justification is from faith to faith, not faith to works. It is “accomplished from start to finish by faith” and faith alone (Rom. 1:17 NLT)!

Joseph Prince (October-30-2023) Daily Devotional: A Man Under Grace Sees and Appreciates His Blessings

Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength . . . For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. Jeremiah 17:5–6

One of the saddest things about a man who trusts in his strengths and self-efforts—“who . . . makes flesh his strength”—is that he cannot see good when it comes his way.

As a pastor, I have seen, down through the years, people who don’t put their trust in the Lord when it comes to their marriages, finances, and other areas of weakness. They are determined to trust in their own efforts, and tend to be rather arrogant and frustrated with the people around them.

Many a time, when you observe people like that, you realize that they cannot see the good things that are right under their noses. They don’t appreciate their spouses, neglect their children, and even when other blessings come their way, they miss them!

Why is it that they can’t see good when it comes? It is because people who trust in their own efforts have no ability to see and receive blessings from the Lord.

They only believe in the “good” that can come from their own efforts. That is why they are proud. You would probably notice that such people don’t say “thank you” very often to the people around them.

They feel like they are entitled to and deserve whatever they receive. They are rarely grateful or appreciative, and that is why they take their spouses for granted instead of seeing them as a blessing from the Lord.

In contrast, people who are living under grace and who trust in the Lord’s unmerited favor are constantly thankful, praising God and giving thanks to Jesus. They are grateful and appreciative of the people around them.

When I was still a bachelor, I had an idea of the kind of wife I wanted and brought my request to the Lord. But you know what? He over-answered my prayer and gave me Wendy! I am truly grateful to the Lord for Wendy and I know that it is the unmerited favor of Jesus.

When I look at my daughter Jessica, I know that I don’t deserve such a beautiful daughter, and yet the Lord gave this precious girl to me. You see, my friend, I did nothing to deserve it, but the Lord blessed me with an amazing family.

When you live under grace, you can truly enjoy the blessings around you because you know that they are undeserved. Look at the family, friends, and other blessings that God has given you today. See how He has blessed you with them because He loves you. And when you see them as blessings, they will enrich your life (Prov. 10:22)!

Joseph Prince (October-29-2023) Daily Devotional: Exceedingly Abundantly Above

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. - Ephesians 3:20–21

In Ephesians 3:18–19, we see that when we know the love of Christ, we will be filled with the fullness of God! That is amazing! But notice in today’s scripture that Paul didn’t stop there.

God becomes big in your life when you know His love. He will give you not just exceedingly, not just abundantly, but exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think!

So when you know His love for you, you can ask big and think big, and God will still exceed all that you ask or think! It’s all about His love for you and me. Yet, there are people today who continue to boast in their love for God, believing that He would bless them in tandem with their good works.

In my own life, there were some things that I had been believing God for, but for years, nothing happened, until I realized just how much God loves me. When I realized how much He loves me, it was like all of a sudden, the floodgate of His blessings opened wide, and all kinds of good things started happening to me, in me, and around me.

One such occasion was when my daughter, Jessica, was about two years old, and she was suffering from a viral attack that the doctors could not remedy. She cried all day and night. I tried everything I knew. I was binding and loosing, I was confessing the Word of God, I was shouting, I was laying hands . . . all to no avail.

And then the Lord brought me to Genesis 22, where God told Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to Him—a foreshadow of God sacrificing His own Son, Jesus.

As I read the passage, I realized just how much God loved me. He loved me so much that He did not withhold His Son, His only Son, the Son whom He loved, for me.

I began to weep from a deep and intimate sense of God’s overwhelming love for me. At that moment, I felt His love all over me.

And right there and then, my daughter stopped crying in the other room. From that point onward, she was completely healed! As I was experiencing a fresh revelation of His love for me, the miracle for my daughter happened!

Let me share another testimony with you. Bill, a brother from California, wrote to thank me for my teachings about our inheritance as God’s beloved children when we believe right. He shared that prior to his honeymoon in Cancun, rain and thunderstorms had been forecast for 80 to 90 percent of the duration of their trip.

One morning during his quiet time with God, it occurred to him that because God loves him and his wife, he could pray to God to change the weather for their honeymoon, for surely this was no big deal for the God of the universe. So three days prior to their departure, he prayed just that.

This was Bill’s report: “The sun was shining with storm clouds in the far distance everywhere we went during our six-day honeymoon. The thunderstorms were spectacular but always at a distance. Rain only fell late at night after we had retired to bed. Even though fierce storms were predicted along the entire coastline, we woke up every morning to sunshine and freshly watered, beautiful nature. Some will scoff and call this a coincidence, and some simply won’t believe that God changed the weather for one of His own. But I believe that’s exactly what He did!”

Let me say this again: when you know His love for you, you can ask big and think big, and God will still exceed all that you ask or think!

When you believe right, the floodgates of blessings open! Nothing is impossible when you believe right in the person of Jesus and in His love and goodness. Praise God! 

Joseph Prince (October-28-2023) Daily Devotional: Salvation in the Name of Jesus

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. 2 Timothy 4:18

Psalm 91 ends with the power-packed verse, “With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Many years ago, the Lord opened my eyes to see that apart from the four names of God that are mentioned in the first two verses of Psalm 91, there is another name of God, a fifth name, concealed in the very last word of Psalm 91.

You see, in Hebrew, the word “salvation” is the word yeshua. And Yeshua is the Hebrew name of our Lord Jesus! Now, isn’t that beautiful?

This is what God was saying: “With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My Yeshua.” Long life is found in our Yeshua. You can know God as El Elyon, God Most High, as the Almighty Shaddai, as Jehovah, and even as Elohim, but the name that gives you full and utter confidence is the name Jesus!

It is not enough to know that God is all-powerful. It is more important you know that God is willing to use His power and might to save you!

That’s what our Lord Jesus did at the cross for you and me. He came and He showed us His salvation by sacrificing Himself on the cross for your sins and my sins. He died young that we may live long. And not just live long in this world.

At the cross, He purchased for us the gift of eternal life, paid for with His own blood. The moment you received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, your salvation in Him was sure and secure!

I grew up in a church where I was taught that when you sin, you will lose your salvation and have to get born again all over again. This erroneous teaching oppressed my mind day and night. The enemy incessantly attacked me with thoughts that I had lost my salvation.

As I was seeking the Lord for answers one day, He opened my eyes and pointed me to the above Scripture passage from 2 Timothy.

Just like that, when the truth of God’s Word came in, all the oppression left me. And every time the thought that I had lost my salvation reared its ugly head again, I would quote this verse, boldly declaring, “It is written, ‘And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.’”

Beloved, I highly recommend that you meditate on this Scripture. In this one verse you find the Lord’s protection and preservation unto eternity!

Joseph Prince (October-27-2023) Daily Devotional: The Lamb of God

“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” - John 1:29

I encourage you to start every new day with this thought: “God loves me and gave His only Son for me. Jesus is all for me today. I am saved, healed, favored, righteous, and accepted in Christ the Beloved.”

Start your day by occupying your mind with Jesus. For a season in my life, before I even got out of bed, I would repeat to myself over and over again, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.”

Some mornings I would say it more than fifty times. I wanted it to be a revelation pulsating in my heart, an unshakable belief that God is for me and with me. When you occupy your mind with Jesus, every struggle, fear, and bondage that you are entangled with will lose its evil grasp on you!

There is a beautiful picture of Jesus hidden in the Old Testament. Under the old covenant of the law, those who sinned were told to bring a sheep that was without blemish, wrinkle, or spot to the priest.

The priest does not examine the person to see if he is perfect (without sin), because he has sinned. So the priest examines the sheep.

If the sheep is indeed perfect, the person who has sinned lays his hands on the sheep in an act of transferring his sins to the innocent sheep. At the same time, the innocence and perfection of the sheep are transferred to the person.

The sheep is then killed, and the person leaves with his conscience cleared and his sin debt forgiven. He walks away under an open heaven of God’s favor and blessing.

Can you see Jesus in this Old Testament practice? The sheep without blemish, spot, or wrinkle is a picture of the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus Christ Himself, who takes away the sins of the world.

The priest is a picture of God. He doesn’t examine you for your sins. Instead, He examines Jesus, and because Jesus is gloriously perfect, you can live today with your conscience cleared and your sin debt forgiven. You can walk under an open heaven and expect God’s favor and blessings in your life.

What a beautiful picture of God’s abundant and lavish grace.

Today, turn your eyes away from yourself and stop the self-introspection! Look to Jesus, the Lamb of God, and see His perfection as your perfection. See His innocence as your innocence, His righteousness as your righteousness. Be occupied with Him, and be transformed from the inside out.

Joseph Prince (October-26-2023) Daily Devotional: God’s Heart Revealed

“He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” - John 14:9

How do you know it is God’s will to heal you? Just look at what Jesus did during His earthly ministry. When we look at Jesus, we see our heavenly Father’s heart for us, for Jesus said that anyone who has seen Him has seen the Father.

Throughout the Gospels, what do we see Jesus tirelessly doing?

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sick- ness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.

—Matthew 4:23–24

Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.

—Matthew 15:30
 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.

—Luke 4:40

Over and over again, the Bible records how our Lord Jesus “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). He caused the lame to walk and the blind to see. He unstopped deaf ears. He cleansed people with leprosy. He even raised the dead.

And do you know what our Lord Jesus said about all that He did? He said, “The words I say to you I do not say on My own initiative or authority, but the Father, abiding continually in Me, does His works [His attesting miracles and acts of power]” (John 14:10 AMP).

Jesus said it was the Father who worked (through Him) wonderful healing miracles everywhere He went. Can you see that it is truly your heavenly Father’s desire for you to be completely healed of every disease?

Joseph Prince (October-25-2023) Daily Devotional: Worship Brings Lasting Transformation

“She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” Mark 14:8–9

When it comes to the value that we place on Jesus, let me share something powerful with you that will cause you to grow in your relationship with the Lord and bring lasting transformation in your life.

In the Old Testament, the burnt offering came in three sizes—literally, big, medium, and small (Lev. 1:1–17). The rich would bring an expensive bullock; the middle-income, a lamb; and the poor, a pair of easy-to-obtain pigeons or turtledoves.

Now, while the offerings differed in size, in terms of value to God, they were all equal and acceptable to Him, because they all reminded Him of the one final and perfect sacrifice of His beloved Son. So whether it was a bullock, lamb, or pair of turtledoves, they were all accepted and killed, and their blood was shed to make atonement for the offerers’ sins.

What’s the significance of knowing all this? The three animal sacrifices are actually typologies of our appreciation of Jesus and His finished work today. For instance, many believers have a lamb-sized revelation of Jesus. They know that Jesus is the Lamb of God who has washed away their past sins with His blood.

Then there are some Christians who have only a pigeon-size revelation of Jesus. They see Him as the Son of God Who came down from heaven to die for man’s sins.

And finally there are believers who have a bullock-size revelation of Jesus and His cleansing blood. As the bullock was the most expensive of the three sacrifices, these believers are spiritually rich because they have a large and deep revelation of Jesus, His blood, and how it has cleansed them of all their sins.

In the same way that all the three sacrifices were acceptable to the Lord, we as believers are all accepted in His sight, no matter what our revelation and how we value Jesus. But God wants you to grow from having a pigeon-size revelation of His Son to having a bullock-size appreciation of Him.

Why is this so important? Because everything starts from the inside out. That inward spiritual wealth will translate into outward benefits of peace, stability, joy, provision, and victory. Back then, the wealthier you were, the bigger the size of your offering. Today, the larger your revelation of Jesus, the more spiritually wealthy you are!

My friend, when you esteem Jesus, when you worship Him and give unto Him, it brings lasting transformation not only in your life. As we have seen with Mary in today's scripture, it also has an effect for generations and generations to come.

Mary poured out and gave her very best to the Lord, and Jesus said she prepared Him for His burial. In His words, Jesus enveloped her forever in the sweet incense of His praise of her.

Today we are still talking about and honoring what Mary did for our Lord two thousand years ago. Talk about your good works having an effect for generations to come!

Your time spent in studying the person of Jesus and worshipping Him will come back to you. You will experience a quality of life beyond your wildest imagination when the Lord Jesus is at the center of it all. And that is why the grace revolution is all about having a heart for Jesus!

The Power of Redeeming Thoughts (Joseph Prince)

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Philippians 4:8 NLT

What mental movies are you playing in your head today? Are they thoughts of defeat and despair or thoughts of victory and favor? Faith is simply saying what God says about you and seeing what God sees in you and your situation.

It takes a thought to heal a thought. Unlike the world, which teaches you to empty your mind to achieve peace, God’s way is to fill your mind with fresh, powerful, and redeeming thoughts.

The apostle Paul tells us, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Phil. 4:8 NLT).

So it’s not just trying to blot out bad thoughts with your willpower. It takes a thought to replace a thought. It takes a right belief to replace a wrong belief. You need God’s truth to replace the enemy’s lies that have kept you in bondage.

My friend, if a wrong, bad, or negative thought is lodged in your mind today and you can’t seem to shake it, stop trying! Perhaps you’re lying in a hospital bed and can’t help but think of the worst-case scenario. You’re attempting to suppress it, but it’s not working.

Well, stop! Stop trying to erase it from your mind. That just won’t work. What you need to do is replace that destructive thought with a thought that’s from God. That’s the only way to deal with a wrong thought and begin the healing process.

Start to meditate on truths such as, “Surely Jesus has borne my sicknesses and carried my pains. The chastisement for my wholeness fell upon Him, and by His stripes I am healed. With long life He will satisfy me” (Isa. 53:4–5, Ps. 91:16). Begin to play mental movies of yourself getting well, being discharged from the hospital, having fun with your kids, or going on a nice holiday!

Joseph Prince (October-24-2023) Daily Devotional: Know Your Covenant Rights in Christ

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. - Hosea 4:6

I cannot emphasize enough how vitally important it is for a believer today to know that he is under the new covenant of God’s unmerited favor and no longer under the law. Many good, well-meaning, and sincere believers today are defeated by their lack of knowledge of the new covenant and all the benefits that Jesus has purchased for them at the cross.

“But Pastor Prince, we should not be looking at benefits when we believe in Jesus.”

I am glad that you brought up this point. Let’s look at what the psalmist thinks about this: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's” (Ps. 103:1–5).

Beloved, this is the heart of God. He wants you to remember all the benefits that Jesus has purchased for you with His blood! It is His heart to see you enjoying every single benefit, every single blessing, and every single favor from Him in the new covenant of His grace.

Forgiveness of sin is yours. Health is yours. Divine protection is yours. Favor is yours. Good things and the renewal of youth are yours!

These are all precious gifts from the Lord to you, and it brings Him unspeakable joy when He sees you enjoying these gifts and succeeding in life. But it is the lack of knowledge of what Jesus has accomplished at the cross that has robbed many believers of enjoying these good gifts and benefits.

This reminds me of a story I read of a man who visited an impoverished old lady who was dying. As he sat next to her bed in the cramped confines of her dilapidated home, a single frame hanging on her spartan wall caught his attention.

Instead of a picture, the frame held a yellowed piece of paper with some writing on it. He asked the lady about that piece of paper and she replied, “Well, I can’t read, so I don’t know what it says. But a long time ago, I used to work for a very wealthy man who had no family. Just before he died, he gave me this piece of paper and I’ve kept it in remembrance of him for the past 40 or 50 years now.”

The man took a closer look at the framed contents, hesitated for a moment, then said, “Do you know that this is actually the will and testament of that man? It names you as the sole beneficiary of all his wealth and property!”

For close to 50 years, that lady had lived in abject poverty, working day and night to eke out a meager existence for herself. During all this time, she was actually the owner of a sprawling estate and enviable riches. However, her own ignorance had utterly robbed her of a life of wealth and luxury that she could have enjoyed.

It is a sad story, but what is even sadder is that this tragedy is played out every day in the lives of believers who do not realize the inheritance that Jesus bequeathed them when He gave up His life at the cross.

What we need today are not more laws to govern believers. What we need is a greater revelation and appreciation of Jesus and everything that He has done for us! In Hosea 4:6, God lamented, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

Let’s not be numbered among these people. Instead, let us be a people who are full of the knowledge of Jesus, His person, His love, and His finished work.

Don't allow your ignorance to rob you anymore. Find out all about your covenant rights in Christ today!

Joseph Prince (October-23-2023) Daily Devotional: Bring Every Thought into Captivity

Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. -  2 Corinthians 10:5

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to many believers today, the enemy has launched malicious disinformation campaigns that have effectively enslaved them for years to low self-esteem, self-hatred, guilt, eating disorders, perversions, inordinate fears, and all kinds of crazy habits and addictions.

I want to expose the enemy’s lies and to help you see with pristine clarity the enemy’s deceptive and manipulative tactics. These lies will collapse like a house of cards the second you see your true identity in Christ.

Your weapons for this warfare are found in the truth of God’s Word, and they are mighty and have the power to overthrow and destroy every stronghold that has been built up through disinformation and wrong believing. And the way we can destroy these strongholds in our mind is by “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

When I was a young believer, I was taught that it was my responsibility to bring my every thought into obedience to Christ. I tried and struggled with that for years and ended up with more mental oppression, stress, and guilt than I had started with.

One day God opened my eyes and said to me, “Son, keep your focus and your thoughts always on the obedience of Christ, and that will be a powerful weapon to pull down the devil’s strongholds in your mind.” When He said that to me, it felt like the lights were suddenly switched on in my head.

So what does it mean to capture every thought to the obedience of Christ? Simply this: to focus on Jesus’ obedience to the Father at the cross, through which we were all made forever righteous the moment we believed in Him.

Can you see that our obedience today under the new covenant begins with choosing to believe that we are made righteous by Christ’s obedience at the cross? The apostle Paul describes our obedience as “obedience to the faith” (Rom. 16:26)—believing right about what Jesus has done to make us righteous. And when we believe right like this, we will find His grace motivating and empowering us to think and live right.

God’s Word tells us, “The just [righteous] shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). You can say it like this: the righteous shall live by right believing. When you have right believing, you release the power of God to live right.

The next time you have negative thoughts, catch yourself and look toward the obedience of Christ. See the cross. See Jesus. See Him washing your mind with His precious blood.

When you believe the gospel, the true gospel that says you are righteous through Jesus’ obedience (Rom. 5:19), you will have right living. The right results will follow.

My friend, the more you believe right that you have been made righteous and blessed through Christ’s obedience, the more you will see the fruit of obedience in your life. Praise Jesus for His marvelous grace!

Joseph Prince (October-22-2023) Daily Devotional: Perfection Is Not Required

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21

When I was a young Christian, I was a victim of a flawed, legalistic teaching based on a misinterpretation of the apostle Paul’s teaching on the holy Communion in 1 Corinthians 11:27–30:

“Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”

I was taught and warned, as perhaps you were, that if there was any sin in my life, including ones I didn’t know about or had forgotten to confess, that sin made me unworthy to partake of the holy Communion. I would bring judgment and sickness on myself, and I might even die before my time!

But how could I ever know if I was “worthy” enough? I was not living in sin or anything like that, but I knew that to God, sin is sin, and if anyone fails in even one area, he is counted guilty of all (James 2:10).

As a result, I was so fearful of the Communion I did not partake of it for many years. After all, I was no fool. Why would I risk it?

I was robbed of my inheritance because of well-meaning but erroneous preaching that put an invisible fence around what was meant to be a source of health and healing and a blessing for God’s people. A fence was put around it saying, “Don’t come near unless you are worthy.”

Don’t be robbed like I was.

This is what the Word of God says: Jesus’ blood has already been shed for us, and as believers, we are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). We are completely righteous and worthy not because we are perfect, but because He is perfect.

He paid the full price for the forgiveness of our sins, which alone makes us worthy. His sacrifice at the cross has fully qualified us to receive His healing and victory over sin and every kind of bondage that is robbing us of health and life.

Joseph Prince (October-21-2023) Daily Devotional: Where Is This Secret Place?

For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God. - 2 Corinthians 1:20 AMPC

Where is this secret place of the Most High and how do you get there? Before I answer this question, I want you to be careful of preaching and teaching about Psalm 91 that make “the secret place of the Most High” a place that only an elite few can go to, while the rest of us have no access to it because we haven’t done enough, such as pray for eight hours.

Usually, the person who teaches along these lines is trying to say that there is a standard of holiness that you must attain before you can reach the secret place of the Most High. Now, if this is true and it takes eight hours of prayer at home to be in the secret place of the Most High, then how about those of us who have full-time jobs and can’t pray for eight hours, and who really need protection?

Think about it for a moment. Who needs more protection—the one praying in the safety of his home or the one working out there? Clearly, it is the guy who is working out there in the world where accidents are possible and where he is exposed to all kinds of viruses.

Yet, according to this teaching, he cannot access the secret place because he has not prayed eight hours a day! Does this even make sense to you?

That’s why I don’t like teaching that makes certain people—especially the preacher—appear like they are part of an elite few. The Lord’s blessings are not just for an elite few.

If a blessing is from our Lord, everyone has access to it. The young and the old, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor—all have access by faith to His blessings that are freely given.

Let me tell you where the secret place of the Most High is. The secret place of the Most High is a place where you are in Christ.

Wouldn’t you agree that being in Christ is to be in the safest hiding place? How did you get to be in Christ? By receiving the Lord Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.

Once you are a born-again believer, our heavenly Father sees you in Christ. You are safe, protected, and secure in the hiding place! Be anchored in this truth and see yourself walking in a greater measure of His divine protection in the days to come.

Joseph Prince (October-20-2023) Daily Devotional: Study the Bible to See Jesus Unveiled

Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. - Luke 24:25–27

After Jesus rose from the dead, He ministered comfort to two sad and discouraged disciples who were walking to a village called Emmaus. From the way they spoke, you could tell that they did not believe that Jesus would be resurrected.

They said that they were hoping that it was Jesus who was going to redeem Israel, so they were utterly discouraged when He was crucified. They were also astonished when certain women of their company, who had gone to Jesus’ tomb, told them that they could not find His body.

In today’s scripture, the two indictments that Jesus spoke to those disciples are the same ones He speaks to the body of Christ today. The first is that we are “foolish,” that is, we are suffering from ignorance and the lack of knowledge of and revelation from the Word of God. The second is that even when we do have knowledge of the Word, we are “slow of heart to believe.”

Now, our Lord Jesus is so loving that He would not just tell the disciples what their problem was without giving them the solution. So immediately, He began to expound the Scriptures.

He started at Moses, which refers to the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), before moving on to the rest of the Old Testament, which would include the major and minor prophets. He expounded to them “the things concerning Himself” in every single book, showing them pictures of Himself throughout the Scriptures. What a tremendous time of Bible study it must have been!

This tells us that the Bible is all about Jesus. Jesus is in the Old Testament concealed and in the New Testament revealed.

Jesus began to unveil to the disciples that He was the promised Seed in the Garden of Eden who would crush Satan’s head. He would have moved on to share about how each of the five Levitical offerings depicted different aspects of His one perfect work on the cross. He would have shared about the high priest and how the high priest’s garments spoke of Himself as our perfect representative before God.

Jesus would even have unveiled Himself in all the typologies embedded in the Old Testament stories. There are no insignificant details in the Bible and everything in it is there to point to Jesus.

In expounding the Scriptures to the two disciples, I believe that Jesus showed us how we are to study the Bible today. He does not want us to read the Bible to find out what to do and what not to do. He wants us to study the Bible to see Him and all the things in the Scriptures concerning Himself.

When you begin to see Jesus in every page of the Bible and to search out all the hidden gems and truths about Jesus, the Bible comes alive. Faith comes alive in your heart to strengthen your heart and to receive your breakthrough when you see your Savior and His saving grace toward His people.

Jesus’ solution for those who are “foolish” and “slow of heart to believe” is for them to study the Bible to see more of Him. At the end of the disciples’ journey, the Bible says that they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32). My friend, when Jesus is unveiled in the Scriptures, our hearts will burn within us with the warmth of His love.

Whatever your need is today, whether it is physical, emotional, mental, social, or financial, your solution is found in a greater revelation of Jesus. When Jesus is unveiled in all His magnificence, the poor will experience provision, the weak will be made strong, and the sick will be healed.

I pray that you will make it your priority to read the Word and hear preaching that unveils the beauty and grace of your Savior. Your life, finances, marriage, and your entire household will be blessed beyond measure.