Read Pastor Prince’s Entry for 6th July Here:

https://www.josephprince.org/blog/daily-grace-inspirations/freely-receive-what-god-freely-gives

What Pastor Prince’s entry is about

Through being made righteous by faith in Christ, believers are heirs of the world just as Abraham was. Therefore the blessings that come with being an heir of the world are now ours. We don’t seek to earn these blessings by performance. Rather, as the title to the devotional says, we freely receive what God freely gives. The blessings that God freely gives include getting a better job with a higher pay after retrenchment as well as a happy marriage.

Things to agree with and encourage

The title to Pastor Prince’s entry is great! Freely receive what God freely gives. It is a sentence that speaks highly of God’s character:

• God is able to bring about whatever he promises because he is all-powerful. He doesn’t make promises he has no power to keep. So we can trust him.
• God is faithful and trustworthy. He keeps the promises that he makes. He doesn’t leave them unfulfilled. So we can trust him.

We receive the gifts that God gives to us without thinking that we have earned them through good works and merit. They are gifts, not rewards. And therefore we receive them, not achieve them.

Things that are worth taking a closer look at

Pastor Prince uses two verses in this devotional. We’ll begin by taking a look at the use of these two verses. Let’s start with Romans 4:13. I’ve put down the NKJV which Pastor Prince uses as well as the ESV here:

Continue reading “Re: Freely Receive What God Freely Gives (Romans 4:13)” →

Read Pastor Joseph Prince’s Entry for 5th July Here:

https://www.josephprince.org/blog/daily-grace-inspirations/rest-and-receive-your-miracle

What Pastor Prince’s entry is about

Jesus went to the cross. Jesus’ work on the cross provides for all you need. When you rest in this finished work of Christ, you will receive the miracle you need. Therefore, stop struggling, doing whatever you can to turn your situation around. Instead, rest.

The Scriptural basis for this is that the disabled man of John 5, the woman with the disabling spirit of Luke 13 and the man with the withered hand of Luke 6 all received their miracles on the Sabbath, which is the Jewish rest day. ‘Miracles’ and ‘resting’ are to therefore be closely linked. Hebrews 4:9 is quoted, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.” Though left unexplicit, the connection, I suppose, is that the miracles received by these people on a rest-day are also available to today’s people of God (when they rest).

Things to agree with and encourage

The rest for the people of God spoken about in Hebrews 4 is indeed a Sabbath rest. And the writer to the Hebrews urges his readers to enter this rest (Hebrews 4:11). As we will see in the next section, this rest that we are called to enter into is one where there truly is no suffering and no struggling.

Things that are worth taking a closer look at

There are three issues with Pastor Prince’s entry. The first has to do with what is meant by ‘rest’. The second is the timing of when we will enter this rest. The third is whether the action of resting (which is what Pastor Prince is advocating) is called for here in these texts.

Continue reading “Re: Rest And Receive Your Miracle (Hebrews 4:9)” →

Read Pastor Prince’s Entry for 4th July Here:

https://www.josephprince.org/blog/daily-grace-inspirations/be-mindful-of-christs-obedience-at-the-cross

What Pastor Prince’s entry is about

When we feel condemned because of our sinful thoughts, it makes us anxious that our standing with God has been compromised. Instead of focusing on how we have not obeyed, we are to focus instead on how Christ obeyed. This reminds us that our righteousness comes from Christ and how he obeyed, not because of anything that we do. This is what it means to bring “every thought into the captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor 10:5).

Things to agree with and encourage

There are lots to agree with. Firstly, I appreciate and respect how pastoral Pastor Prince is here. There is a compassion for his readers, not wanting them to go through what he went through. It surely must have been very stressful feeling like you “had to confess every one of [the bad] thoughts and seek God’s forgiveness.” (para. 2) Perhaps what happened was that he feared that if he missed out on one, his salvation was in jeopardy?

Secondly, the exaltation of Christ was simply splendid! Christ indeed makes his people righteous because of how he obeyed (Romans 5:19; para. 3)! It is only only only because of Christ and his work on the cross that his people are righteous before a holy God. And it is good for Pastor Prince to keep reminding us of this glorious truth! Praise Jesus the Lamb of God whose blood washes his people white as snow!

Things that are worth taking a closer look at

Pastor Prince uses 2 Cor 10:5 to bring in the idea of taking bad thoughts that condemn us captive. Let’s take a look at it. We will use the English translation Pastor Prince uses, which looks like it is the NKJV:

⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Continue reading “Re: Be Mindful Of Christ’s Obedience At The Cross (2 Cor 10:5)” →

Read Pastor Joseph Prince’s Entry for 30th June Here:

https://www.josephprince.org/blog/daily-grace-inspirations/rest-and-find-gods-grace

What Pastor Prince’s entry is about

Pastor Prince says that when we rest, God gives grace to us.
To rest means to stop trying to change a situation through our own efforts, trusting God by going to Jesus in prayer. When we rest and trust in this way, God “can and will do a perfect work of taking care of [your problem] for you” (para.7 of entry).

Things to agree with and encourage

God indeed does want us to trust him. How marvellous is it that God is our Heavenly Father, a Father who is a Perfect Father. He cares for us, which is what the Apostle Peter says as he urged his readers to cast all their anxieties upon God. God, maker of the Heavens and Earth, the one who is holy, glorious and almighty wants to assure us that he cares for each one of us. This is our Father we can trust in, and Pastor Prince is right in asking us to do so.

Things that are worth taking a closer look at

Firstly, let’s look at how Pastor Prince uses the story of Noah to teach us how we can find grace. This is his logic:
* Since Noah means ‘rest’,
* And Noah (‘rest’) found grace…
* Therefore, if you rest, you will also find grace. (para 3.)
This logic doesn’t work, and we can see that this is the case when we look at three other named characters in the bible.

Continue reading “Re: Rest And Find God’s Grace (Luke 2:40)” →

Read Pastor Joseph Prince’s Entry For 1st July Here:

https://www.josephprince.org/blog/daily-grace-inspirations/hope-that-does-not-disappoint

What Pastor Prince’s entry is about

The main point is that God loves us and that this should change the way we live! And in particular, it should change our expectations. No longer should we have a vague sense of possibly getting something desirable. Instead, we should be sure and confident of getting it because God loves his children and favours them!

Pastor Prince uses two verses from the bible to support his message:
* Colossians 1:27 (NIV) – “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Pastor Prince says that “Because Christ is in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), you can expect the glory of God to shine in every area of your life, including your family, job, ministry, health and finances!” (paragraph 2 of Pastor Prince’s entry)
* Romans 5:5 (NIV) – “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Pastor Prince says that “You may have experienced disappointed hopes, but there is a hope that does not disappoint when you are conscious of how much God loves you. It is a hope that springs from the heart of God, who loves you very much.” (para. 3)

Things to agree with and encourage

Pastor Prince is right that as Christians we have a Sure Hope. It’s a hope that will not fail. Or in the language of Romans 5, it’s a hope that will not disappoint. So all this is true, good and glorious! But the thing is… what is this hope? i.e. what is the object of this hope? Is it any good thing that we desire such as a job or a relationship (para. 5) or does the Apostle Paul have something more particular in mind? It is to this question that we now turn.

Things that are worth taking a closer look at

Let’s take a look at how hope is used by Paul in Romans 5:5. This verse is part of a point that Paul is making that began in 5:1, so let’s look there.

Continue reading “Re: Hope That Does Not Disappoint (Romans 5:5)” →

Read Pastor Joseph Prince’s Entry for 2nd July Here:

https://www.josephprince.org/blog/daily-grace-inspirations/satan-cannot-come-before-god-to-accuse-you

What Pastor Prince’s entry is about

The main point is clear from the title! And the implication is found in the second-to-last paragraph: we shouldn’t be deceived by thoughts that tell us that “God is against you, that he is angry with you because you have failed him, or that your sickness or poverty is God’s punishment for you sins.”

Things to agree with and encourage

I love the Christ-centredness of Pastor Prince’s entry for today! Jesus is indeed the one who has allowed Christians to stand before God justified! It truly is Jesus’ blood that purifies us. Jesus really is our Mediator! And this is all by grace. We could never earn this sort of treatment ourselves! In fact, we deserved the opposite!

Continue reading “Re: Satan Cannot Come Before God To Accuse You (Romans 8:33)” →