Beloved in Christ Ministry

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory.” (Isaiah 61:3, NLT) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20–22 Feed On The Tree Of Life When you watch documentaries or read news reports about a certain topic or problem, you’ll realize that often, no real solution is actually offered. The program or report will give you both the good and the bad in order to be objective, balanced and fair. So you’ll find that you don’t really gain anything, just more knowledge of what’s good and what’s evil regarding the topic. I’m not against watching documentaries or reading the news. But the problem with feeding your mind and soul with the knowledge of good and evil is that more often than not, with greater knowledge of a topic, you also become more confused, worried or fearful. My advice to you is to spend your time feeding on Jesus, who i

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life… Proverbs 11:30 Believe Right And Live Right The more you receive revelation of your right standing with God, the more you’ll experience areas of your life turning out right. This includes your physical health, which means that the organs in your body—your heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys, liver—will begin to function correctly, more and more so as you grow in the revelation of your righteousness in Christ. More and more you’ll experience divine strength, health, wholeness and life in your body. When you know that you are right with the Lord, your mind will also start to be right and become stable, sound and filled with peace. Depression will no longer be able to squat or linger in your mind or soul. Fears, panic attacks and phobias will evaporate and a new excitement, boldness and an expectation of good will come on you and cause you to experience the blessings that God has for you! Beloved, I urge you to

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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:16–17 God So Loves You Jesus is the apple of God’s eye. He is God’s darling Son, His infinite joy and delight. Yet, God gave Jesus up for you. That’s how much God loves you. Just think about it: If you knew you could save a dying person by giving up something precious to you, would you go as far as to give up your only child whom you dearly love for that person? Yet, that is exactly what God did to save you. Jesus, His beloved Son, died on the cross to cleanse you, heal you and redeem you—spirit, soul and body! That is how precious you are to God! Today, meditate on this truth and let God’s amazing love wash over you. It will drive out every fear, put strength and boldness in your heart, an

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:18 Transformation And Victory Through Beholding Jesus The greatest miracle that Peter experienced happened one night when he stepped out of his boat in the middle of a storm at Jesus’ word. That night, the winds were wild and the waves, boisterous. But as long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he did the impossible—he walked on water. Jesus was walking on the water and when Peter looked at Jesus, he became like Jesus and did the supernatural. God’s Word declares that “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Beloved, when you keep your focus on Jesus, you are transformed into His image from glory to glory. You are transformed

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night. Psalm 92:1–2 Start Your Day With Jesus I want to encourage you to start your day with Jesus. Practice His presence, acknowledge Him, commit your plans to Him and trust Him for His unmerited favor, wisdom and strength for the day. Remember to be like Joseph in the Bible. The Lord was with Joseph and he was a successful man! Your success does not come as a result of you being updated about the latest virus or you being cued in to the latest disaster. No, your success will come as a result of you being tuned in to the presence of Jesus in your life! I have also come to realize that the last thought before you go to sleep is very important. I have tried this before and you can try it too: Go to bed thinking about Jesus, giving thanks to Him for the day. Most times, I wake up feeling rej

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1 Meditate On Jesus For Good Success Under the new covenant, we get to meditate on the person of Jesus when we meditate on the Word. Jesus is the Word made flesh, and as you meditate on His love for you, on His finished work, on His forgiveness and on His grace, you will have good success. You can just take one verse and meditate on Jesus’ love for you. For example, you can begin to mutter Psalm 23:1 under your breath: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” As you meditate on this simple verse, you begin to realize that the Lord is (present tense) your shepherd. A shepherd provides for his sheep, feeds them and protects them. Because Jesus is your shepherd, you shall not be in want for anything. You shall not lack wisdom, direction, provision—anything. Now, in this short period of meditating on Jesus, faith is imparted and your heart is encouraged with the reality that Jesus is with you,

even times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous judgments. Psalm 119:164 It was David’s habit to praise God seven times a day. It was Daniel’s habit since his youth to pray three times a day to God. It was Jesus’ habit to go to the synagogue every Sabbath to read the Word. And it was the early church’s habit to meet together often and break bread. My friend, whether it’s meditating on the Word, praying or praising God, I encourage you to cultivate such godly habits. Not only are they ways through which you’ll enjoy God’s presence, but they’ll also equip you for every fight of life. They’ll sustain and deliver you in times of trouble. Just look at Daniel. When a new law forbade him to pray, he didn’t panic or become confused, but as was his custom, continued to pray to God. Later, up close and personal with a bunch of hungry lions, this habit made Daniel so conscious of God’s presence in the den that the lions couldn’t touch him! It made him

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 Supplied According To His Riches in Glory Aren’t you glad that God’s supply toward us is not according to the state of the world’s major economies? Neither is it according to whether natural calamities or economic woes have paralyzed these key economies. No, He supplies our needs—He protects, provides and restores to us what we have lost—according to His riches in glory, which are limitless and totally unaffected by world events! So come what may today or tomorrow, be encouraged to know that God is well able to supply ALL your needs. There is no problem in your life that escapes His attention, or that is too big for His grace to provide. When His supply is according to His riches in glory, He not only has your back covered, but He has also gone before you and made available every provision to you (Psalm 139:5, NLT). My friend, you can live lif

And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb… Revelation 12:11 A precious lady from England wrote in to share how her daughter-in-law had conceived supernaturally after 10 years of trying. Her daughter-in-law had undergone at least seven in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, all without success. But all this began to change when she read one of the devotionals in which I wrote, “what nine plagues could not do, the blood did.” I was talking about how none of the nine plagues that Moses brought upon the Egyptians caused Pharaoh to release the Israelite slaves, until they put the lamb’s blood—a picture of Jesus’ blood—on their doorposts. Then and only then were the Israelites finally released by Pharaoh—all because of the blood. With a fresh revelation of Jesus’ shed blood, this lady began to pray for her son and daughter-in-law, speaking the blood over their situation. A few weeks later, her son called to say that his wife was pregnant

…He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” Mark 5:36 To the two blind men who came to Jesus for their miracles, Jesus said, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” And to Jairus, who had just been told that his daughter was dead, Jesus said, “Do not be afraid; only believe ” (Mark 5:36). In the Gospels, we find Jesus encouraging the people who needed His help to only believe in Him. He never asked them, “Have you been deserving or wonderful in your behavior?” He never asked them about their law keeping or performance. He was only interested in whether they believed He would do good to them. My friend, good character, good behavior and acts of charity are all good, but they cannot earn you favor with God. He doesn’t look at these things to decide if you merit His favor and help. The good news is that you don’t have to have it all together to receive from God. All you need to do is believe that He blesses you out of

But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! John 15:7, NLT When the enemy attempts to steal from you (John 10:10), what do you think he heads straight for? What do you think is the most valuable and important thing that he wants to take away from you? According to Jesus, it is the Word of God (Mark 4:14–15). That’s what the enemy goes for, because he doesn’t want the Word taking root in your heart and producing all kinds of good fruit in your life. He knows that before he can steal your health, joy, peace and provisions, he has to steal the Word from you. Without the truth of God’s Word guiding your life, he can make you believe his lies and rob you blind. That’s why, beloved, I encourage you to hold on to the Word of His grace that you have heard. Study it, understand it, keep it close to your heart and speak it over your life. Keep being reminded of the gospel of His grace, whether i

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. Psalm 127:3–5 If you are overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being a parent today, I want to encourage you to believe that there is a provision and a grace for parenting. Instead of worrying and being anxious for your children, pray for them to experience God’s wisdom, favor and protection through Jesus Christ. Before they go to bed at night, or before they leave for school, just lay hands on them and say, “Because you are a Jesus-boy (or Jesus-girl), day by day, you are increasing in the wisdom of God and in favor with God and men! Jesus will cause you to be at the right place at the right time.” Cast your cares for your children to the Lord. Trust Him for the provision of wisdom to speak words of encouragement and life to them about making g

So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.”… Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. And she happened to come to the part of the field belonging to Boaz… Ruth 2:2–3 Are you believing God for a certain breakthrough today? Trust the Lord to position you at the right place at the right time to experience His provision. Believe that He has gone before you and prepared a provision that will exceed your expectations! If you’re trusting God for a life-partner, for example, look at the story of Ruth. Of all the fields that she could have stepped into to collect grain, the Lord led her to Boaz’s field! Boaz then fell in love with Ruth and the rest is history. In the natural, all the odds were stacked against Ruth. She was a poor widow and a Moabitess (a foreigner). But that did not stop her from putting her trust in the Lord’s favor. Now