BELIEVE YOUR DEBT IS MORE THAN PAID!

By Joseph Prince – Posted July 22, 2017

Hebrews 10:22

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

I would like you to imagine this scenario: You borrow a huge sum of money from a friend and promise to pay him back in six months’ time. When the time comes, you feel really bad because you cannot repay him as you don’t have the money. A year rolls by without you repaying a cent. Now, you feel extremely guilty. You try to avoid your friend because you are too embarrassed and ashamed to see him.

Let’s say that your best friend hears about your plight. Out of the goodness of his heart, he goes to your creditor and says, “Look, I understand that my best friend owes you money.”

“Yes, he owes me US$50,000.”

“Here is US$100,000. I am paying you on his behalf.”

Your creditor says, “No, no, no! He owes me only US$50,000.”

Your best friend says, “I know. But take the US$100,000 so that you can never say that he still owes you money.”

Now, your debt has been paid, in fact, more than paid. But if you don’t know or believe this, that debt will still be on your conscience. You will still be afraid to see your creditor. And you will avoid him because he reminds you of your debt.

My friend, you need to know that Jesus was an overpayment when He offered Himself as your sin offering, because of the quality and worth of the Man Himself. My friend, He overpaid for your sins when He became your sacrifice on the cross.

But if you don’t know or believe this, you will suffer as your unbelief will rob you of assurance, joy and peace. You will still have debt on your conscience. Even though God is not imputing sin to you (Romans 4:8), sin is still on your conscience. And as long as sin is on your conscience, you won’t dare to draw near to Him.

Beloved, the truth is that your sins have been more than paid for. Jesus was an overpayment. So draw near to God today with no sin on your conscience!

Thought For The Day

Jesus was an overpayment when He offered Himself as your sin offering, so draw near to God today with no sin on your conscience!

It’s Like Going to the Bank 

By Joyce Meyer - Posted July 22, 2017

… Because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear).
—Ephesians 3:12

We should never feel insecure when we approach God in prayer. He knows all of our weaknesses and loves us anyway. God wants to give us more than enough, not barely enough, and we need to ask boldly.

Approaching God boldly in prayer can be likened to going to a bank to make a withdrawal. If I know I have fifty dollars in the bank because I deposited it there last week, I will not hesitate to pull up to the drive-through window and cash a fifty-dollar check. I know I have the money; it’s mine, and I can get it out of the bank if I want to. When I present my check, I fully expect to get my fifty dollars. 

We need to approach God with that same kind of boldness, not because of our own righteousness, but because of the privilege of being joint heirs with Jesus. We need to understand what is available to us because of Jesus and we need to pray confidently, with full expectation that we will receive what belongs to us. God has made incredible provision available to us in Christ and we simply need to ask in Jesus’ name for the blessings He has already purchased for us. 

When we struggle with feelings of unworthiness, we should go to God’s Word and let it remind us of our privileges as children of God. Ask the Holy Spirit to help us enter boldly into God’s presence and receive the help we need because, the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17 NKJV). He will speak to us and remind us that we belong to God!

God’s word for you today: You are God’s child and He is looking and longing to be good to you.

Take the High Road

By Joel Osteen – Posted July 22, 2017

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:

"The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest."
(Exodus 14:14, AMPC)

TODAY'S WORD:

In life, we’re always going to have critics. We’ll always have difficult people who try to upset us and steal our peace and joy. But, you don’t have to respond to every critic. You can decide to take the high road and let God fight your battles for you. 

Sometimes, no matter what you say or do, there are people who aren’t going to accept you. They just don’t want to be at peace with you. In fact, when Jesus sent out His disciples to certain homes, He told them to always speak peace over those homes. And then He said in effect, “If they don’t receive the peace that you’re offering, then it will come back to you.” That tells me that if you will do your best to be at peace with people, even if they won’t take your peace, the good news is that peace will just come back to you. You’ll not only get your peace, but you’ll get their share as well! That’s double for your trouble! When you do the right thing no matter what is happening, God sees it and rewards it. Today, stay in peace, cease from strife, and take the high road. Sow good seeds into others and watch the harvest of blessing come to your own life in return.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Father in heaven, I choose to hold my peace. I choose to do the right thing even when the wrong thing is happening. I trust that You are fighting my battles for me. I give You all the honor and praise in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lessons From a Shepherd: Providing for the Sheep

By DR. David Jeremiah – Posted July 22, 2017

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23:1

We’ve all been in situations, perhaps as a parent, where we say, “I don’t have time to explain the details, but trust me—I’ve got it covered. Everything will work out.” And sure enough, it does. It’s nice to know the details, but even if we don’t we can have faith that things will work out.

Recommended Reading: Ezekial 34:1-6

Psalm 23 is like that. It could consist of one verse if that’s all David had chosen to write: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (verse 1). That’s really all we need to know about God as our divine Shepherd: We shall not want. Or, as the New Living Translation puts it, “The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” Sheep are entirely dependent on their shepherd for guidance, protection, food, and rest—which happen to be the things we need as well. In the rest of Psalm 23, David enumerates how God provides for him and, by extension, for us. If we have a need, we should go to God our Shepherd who has promised to provide all we need.

It’s a challenge to separate our wants from our needs. The longer we live with God our Shepherd, the more we will understand our needs from His divine perspective. And the more we will commit our needs to Him.

He who has the Holy Spirit in his heart and the Scripture in his hands has all he needs. 
Alexander MacLaren