Beloved in Christ Ministry

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10, NIV) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Proverbs 18:21 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue… Many things in life can cause us to fear — losing our jobs, deadly diseases, terrorist attacks and so on. When these things confront us, we tend to give in to worry and fear, and start talking about our fears. Job was no different. He constantly feared that God would punish him and his family because he kept thinking that his sons had sinned against God. He would get up early in the morning to offer burnt sacrifices, saying, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” And the Bible tells us that he did this “regularly”. (Job 1:5) So Job kept confessing the sins of his sons and fearing that something terrible would happen to him and his family. In fact, his sin-consciousness didn’t just produce fear, the Bible tells us that he “greatly feared”. (Job 3:25) It is important that we understand that it was Job’s sin-consciousness that op

For You have made him [man] a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned [surrounded] him with glory and honor. Psalm 8:5 As God’s beloved child, redeemed and ransomed by Christ, not only are you surrounded by His favor, but you are also crowned (surrounded) with glory and honor. I encourage you to see yourself encircled with the same glory and honor that Jesus has at the right hand of the Father today. What a picture to have of yourself! My friend, instead of moaning about all the qualities you lack and feeling depressed, see yourself surrounded by glory and honor. For example, if you are looking for a job, preparing for an interview or hoping for a promotion, don’t waste time worrying that others may be more capable or experienced than you. Instead, be conscious that there is an anointing on you because God’s glory is upon you. Believe that the next time you step into a room, that room will light up and the atmosphere will change for the bett

Ephesians 1:3 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Some people think that the term “spiritual blessing” refers to only non-visible and intangible blessings like peace and joy. To them, God’s promise of “every spiritual blessing” excludes the tangible blessings of health, prosperity, a healthy marriage and so on. They say things like, “Don’t expect God to remove this tumor because our blessings are only spiritual.” Beloved, do you know what the word “spiritual” here means? In the original Greek text, it is pneumatikos , which in this context means having properties and characteristics belonging to the Spirit of God. So if you have the pneumatikos blessing of health, for example, it means that it is of the Spirit of God, and therefore does not depend on your exercising or dieting. A church member had high blood pressure w

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “...It is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11, NKJV) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria So many people today are li

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.’ ‘Tomorrow,’ Pharaoh said.” (Exodus 8:9–10, NIV) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Romans 8:27 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Wouldn’t you like to pray effective prayers that are always in line with the will of God and which always hit the mark? Well, when you pray in the Spirit, you can. You see, when we pray in English or our known language, and according to our limited understanding, we can pray amiss. Sometimes, our heads get in the way and we find ourselves asking, “Isn’t it selfish of me to pray like this?” or “Am I praying in line with God’s will?” My friend, that is why God gives us the gift of praying in tongues. When we pray in tongues or in the Holy Spirit, we can never pray out of God’s will beca

Matthew 6:34 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. “I am concerned about the big business deal that I have to close tomorrow.” “I am worried about tomorrow’s job interview.” “My medical test results will be out tomorrow. I am afraid it won’t be good.” God does not want you to worry about tomorrow. He wants you to know that He gives you all the help you need for today, and when tomorrow comes, so will fresh help from Him. This is God’s principle even in the Old Testament. When the children of Israel were in the desert, God gave them fresh manna from heaven every morning. (Exodus 16:13–16, 31) They did not have to worry about tomorrow because when tomorrow came, there was fresh manna again. He was their provision every day. Today, God’s manna is the grace He gives you every day. If you are worried about a situation tomorrow, know

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.” (Isaiah 40:29, NKJV) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria Everyone goes through seasons in life that seem

Meditate On Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest… Hebrews 4:11, KJV There are so many things to do every day—prepare breakfast, drive the kids to school, finish up your presentation, chair a meeting, meet a client, counsel a friend…It’s like we’re always working on something! Actually, if there’s one thing that we ought to prioritize working on every day, it is working at being at rest! Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? How can you work at resting? Yet, that is exactly what God wants us to do. Given our inclination to work, worry and rush to finish all our tasks every day, He wants us to prioritize spending time with Him, and letting His love and words of grace flush out all our agitations, worries and fears. My friend, make laboring to enter God’s rest number one on your to-do list every day. When you are at rest, God’s grace can flow unhindered through you to accomplish—with ease—all that needs to be accomplished for the day. Rest i

Meditate On Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest… Hebrews 4:11, KJV There are so many things to do every day—prepare breakfast, drive the kids to school, finish up your presentation, chair a meeting, meet a client, counsel a friend…It’s like we’re always working on something! Actually, if there’s one thing that we ought to prioritize working on every day, it is working at being at rest! Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? How can you work at resting? Yet, that is exactly what God wants us to do. Given our inclination to work, worry and rush to finish all our tasks every day, He wants us to prioritize spending time with Him, and letting His love and words of grace flush out all our agitations, worries and fears. My friend, make laboring to enter God’s rest number one on your to-do list every day. When you are at rest, God’s grace can flow unhindered through you to accomplish—with ease—all that needs to be accomplished for the day. Rest

John 6:28–29 28 … “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” When I was a young Christian, I attended a seminar on what we must do to “work the works of God”. I was told that we had to pray more, fast more, know our enemy and so on. I came away from the seminar confused. Then one day, I found the same question in the Bible. But the answer was very different! In the Gospel of John, we find Jesus being asked the same question by the multitude who had been awed by His miracles — “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” The people had seen Jesus healing the sick, and feeding 5,000 men with only five loaves and two fish.

Mark 11:24 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. A blind lady was led to a great healing evangelist for prayer. After he had prayed for her, he asked her, “Now, tell me what you see.” She opened her eyes only to be told, “Close your eyes. Tell me what you see.” She opened her eyes again only to be told, “I didn’t say to open your eyes. I asked you what you saw. Close your eyes! Now, tell me what you see.” This went on for a while, until the lady realized that the evangelist was asking her what she saw on the inside. Did she see herself seeing? When she understood that, she said, “I see myself with sight.” Then, the evangelist told her, “Now, slowly open your eyes.” That moment, she opened her eyes to perfect vision! When you prayed just now, what did you see inside you? Were you praying for someone’s healing, but seeing that person in a cof

Meditate On Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 If I don’t worry about my kids and their studies, I’m not being a responsible mother. If I don’t work overtime seven days a week to make more money for my family, I’m not being a good father. My friend, the desires you have to take good care of your family are valid. But by worrying and being stressed out, not only do you harm your health and relationships, but you also constrict the supply of God’s grace in your life. God cannot work freely in your life when you are “in the way”, worrying and getting stressed as you do things out of fear. Beloved, the most responsible thing that you can do for yourself and your family is to let go and rest! REST in God’s love and favor toward you and your family. Recognize that where you can’t, He can, and He wants to protect and provide for you and your loved ones—all the time. So step aside and let Jesus do

Galatians 3:13 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), Many believers probably know that when Jesus died, our sins were forgiven because He shed His blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:22) But why did Jesus have to die on the cross, since the capital punishment of Israel during the time of Christ was stoning and not crucifixion? Jesus hung and died on the cross because He knew the law which says that “he who is hanged is accursed of God”. (Deuteronomy 21:23) He wanted to redeem us from every curse of the law, so He went to the cross, “having become a curse for us”. Jesus took all our curses at the cross, so that we can take all His blessings! The moment you received Jesus, every curse in your life was destroyed. And the way you experience this is to simply bel

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for the time to favor her, yes, the set time, has come.” (Psalm 102:13, NKJV) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria One thing I’ve learned in my life

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE “The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.” (Proverbs 4:18, NLT) TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria Are you facing a

…I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. John 17:4 Long before man sinned, God already had the provision. The Bible tells us that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). This means that everything you need accomplished in your life has been accomplished . Long before you see your healing, know that God has already finished the work of your healing. If you are in lack, see that all the work for your provision has been finished. How do we live in the realm of “it is done?” Just look at Jesus. When He saw a man who was lame for 38 years, He said, “Rise, take up your bed and walk” (John 5:8). You don’t say that to the man unless you see the finished work. Another time, Jesus saw a man in the synagogue whose arm was withered and said to him, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). Jesus treated the man who was lame like he had a pair of strong, healthy legs, and the man whose arm was withered like his arm was wh

Romans 4:16 16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all… God’s grace is His undeserved, unearned and unmerited favor. And because it is undeserved, unearned and unmerited, all of us qualify for it. But how do we walk in it? Just as a password gives you access to a computer program, faith enables you to walk in God’s unmerited favor. Now, faith has nothing to do with what you do or what you can do. Faith is simply believing and declaring what God has done and is doing for you. When you believe that the favor of God is on you because of Christ’s finished work, His promises of provision, healing and restoration become sure to you. They are not just sure to the Jews, but also to you and me because we are “of the faith of Abraham”. Ruth wa

Meditate On Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:31–33 I encourage you to take some time each day to get the revelation of your righteousness in Christ deep into your spirit. Meditate on it and declare it every day. It will put courage in your heart and bring an unshakable peace to your soul. It will energize your faith when you pray and give you a confident expectation to receive good things from your heavenly Father. I believe that’s why our heavenly Father, in knowing the things that we need daily, tells us not to worry about them. What are we supposed to do then? We are to seek first “His [Jesus’] righteousness”—the righteousness that He has given us—and all the t

Ephesians 6:11 11 Put on the whole amour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. God does not need you to defeat the devil today. Jesus has already done it and given you the victory. (Colossians 2:15, Romans 8:37) Your part is to enforce the victory by simply standing your ground, which is victory ground. In other words, you “fight” from victory ground by standing. You don’t fight for victory. In Ephesians 6:10–18, the passage on spiritual warfare, the word “wrestle” appears only once (verse 12), while the word “stand” appears four times — “ stand against the wiles of the devil”, “ withstand in the evil day”, “having done all, to stand ”, “ Stand therefore”. (Verses 11, 13–14) Four times the Holy Spirit tells us to stand. Yet, many Christians are focusing on wrestling their way to victory! My friend, you are already on victory ground. You already have everything in Christ. (1 Corinthian