June 6: God is a healer

If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.   (Exodus 15:26 — New King James Version)

God had just brought the people of Israel out of 400 years of slavery in Egypt. He had forced the Pharaoh of Egypt to let the Israelites go through a series of plagues. But now that they are free, God makes a wonderful agreement with them. He tells them, if they are faithful to Him, He will protect them from all the diseases and plagues they had seen in Egypt. If they are obedient to God, He will be their Healer.

Healing and saving people is not a part-time job for God. It’s His nature to do these things — and He does them all the time. When God’s Son came into the world, He preached, healed the sick, and cast out demons every time He was with a group of people. God cannot change. He is today what He has always been. That’s why it is nonsense to say, "Healing was for the Jews, not for us today." No! This promise is an expression of what God has always done and will always do for His people. Healing happened all through the Bible, and when Jesus came they increased in strength and number.

When we surrender to God and live by faith in Him, there will be a difference between us and other people in the world. Like Jesus said various times: “You know a tree by its fruits.” It’s impossible to truly give your life to God and live in obedience to him and continue living the same life. Just like you get paid after working 40 hours, we are rewarded after manifesting faith and devotion to God. — In the above verse God promised that His people would not suffer the same diseases that the Egyptians suffered. Today, it doesn’t matter what country you’re from, Egypt, Japan, France, Colombia; what makes the difference is our faith and obedience to Him. — Insist on your healing, and on a life with a difference.

June 5: Saved from the curse

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”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.   (Galatians 3:13,14 — New King James Version)

When God gave His Law to the people of Israel on Mt. Sinai, He promised many blessings for them. Obedience meant that they would be a blessed nation, and a healthy, prosperous people. In Deuteronomy 28, God‘s great prophet and lawgiver Moses, proclaimed to God’s people that they would be blessed if they kept God‘s Law, and cursed if they broke it. He said, "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God,” and then he listed the blessings. But Moses also said, “If you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God… all these curses will come upon you and overtake you”.

When we consider our lives — our thoughts, our behavior, our failings, our past, the secrets of our hearts — all of us must admit that we have sinned and broken God‘s Law. We have all failed. But this scripture says that the Lord Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the Law. Jesus’ death removed our sins and broke the curses that came from our disobedience. If you have genuine faith in Jesus and turn away from your sin, He will cleanse you and remove the curse from your life. Then, instead of curses, your life will be one of blessings.

Why did Jesus die the way He did — crucified on a cross? He could have been stoned like Stephen, or had his head cut off like John the Baptist and the apostle James. Before Jesus, this type of death is never mentioned in the Bible. It is an extremely painful, humiliating death, one reserved only for criminals. But in the above verse Paul reminds us of a verse from the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 21:22) which says: “for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (HCSB). — So, in God’s own words, this type of death meant that a person was cursed, and this is precisely why Jesus chose it. He became a curse in order to free anyone under a curse. Isn’t that great news? Feeling cursed is not a death sentence. There is a way out through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. — If you are not free from every curse, get free right now.

June 4: To all who call upon You...

Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me; for I am afflicted and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man; O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to You I cry all day long. Make glad the soul of Your servant, for to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and give heed to the voice of my supplications! In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, for You will answer me.   (Psalm 86:1-7 — New American Standard)

This prayer is a sincere cry to God based on His promises and on what has been revealed to us about our Father in heaven. It is made by a person who has every right to pray and expect an answer. He says that he is devoted to God, that he is His servant, and that he calls on the Lord all day long. This man knows the promises of God and prays with faith, with the confidence that God will answer him.

You can pray for God’s help when you are afflicted and needy, for protection when enemies or disease threaten, for joy and peace instead of fear and unhappiness. You can cry out for His help all day long because He doesn’t get tired of our prayers. Exactly like this man had confidence in a God that answers prayer, you can have that same confidence — because your God is the same as his God. Prayer should never be a cute little poem or a few memorized phrases; it should be a sincere cry to the Almighty, to the One that makes all things possible through prayer and faith.

Living in this world is not easy. Scripture compares it to a battle we must fight, to a race we must win, and to a hardship that we must find our way through. But God is there to help us, Jesus is interceding for us, the angels are serving us, and the Holy Spirit is a powerful force inside of us. So keep praying and be certain that God will answer you.

So many, even Christians, blame God for the bad things that happen, and wonder why He doesn’t stop them. But the truth is that we share this world with demons and the devil, and they will never stop tempting and attacking us. And yet, these hardships are good for us. They stimulate faith and produce miracles. On the other hand, many things can be avoided when we make sure we are always close to God. The verse above says that God is “good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all” who call upon Him. But so many do not call upon God. We feel like our right hand is cut off if we go through the day without a cell phone, but have no problem going through the day without talking to God. No wonder we have problems. — Let’s make sure we call upon God both in good times and bad.

June 3: Christ died for the ungodly

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.    (Romans 5:6-10 — New King James Version)

We are all sinners, condemned, helpless in God's sight, and powerless to save ourselves. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus did not die for good people, but for sinners like us. The Father proved His love for us by sending His precious and beloved Son to die in our place. Now that we are forgiven and have been brought close to God, we can have total confidence that Jesus Christ will continue His work in us. We will be saved from the coming wrath, and have the power, through Jesus’ name, to fight against Satan and every other enemy that might come against us.

When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, His work of paying the price for our sins and bringing us close to God was complete. And yet, He promised to be with us always, to never leave or forsake us, and through the Holy Spirit, Jesus does live in and empower us — He completes the work He has began. So be bold as you live the life of faith. The Lord Jesus your Savior, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords has promised to bring you through victorious and triumphant!

We need to build our lives on these great truths. The doubt, fear, and worry that handicap other people cannot be allowed to do the same to us. 

June 2: Are things falling apart?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross — whether things on earth or things in heaven.   (Colossians 1:15-20 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)

All the great men and women of this world fade into insignificance when we look at Jesus. He is the exact image of God His Father and all of the fullness of God dwells in Him. Jesus is the Creator of all things and holds the universe together by His own power. He is the “first born”, not in the sense that he was created, but that He has priority or is the ruler over all things, appointed to that position by God the Father, and He is God’s tithe for the world. Jesus is the first to be raised from the dead, never to die again. It is He who makes peace between men and God through the blood of His cross.

If you are depressed and don't want to live anymore, He can change your life and restore the excitement and joy of living. He can heal your body and add years to your life. He can transform your family, your marriage, and your relationship with Him. By His death and resurrection the devil and all demonic forces are destroyed and disarmed, and through Him you can have victory in every area of your life!

So many people nowadays feel like their lives are falling apart. Almost 50% of all first time marriages end in divorce, we feel like we’re being pulled in every direction, our job needs us, our children need us, our friends need us, God is calling us, our hearts want their needs to be satisfied, the past haunts us — and the more we try to be everything to everyone, the more we seem to fail. What do we need? We need to remember that “He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together”. No matter what is going on in our lives, God needs to come first. The Lord Jesus was before all things, and if He is not first in our lives, we will not be able to hold anything together… our lives are guaranteed to fall apart. — Let’s have the courage to put the Lord Jesus first in our lives, no matter what.

June 1: Be anxious for nothing

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.   (Philippians 4:4-7 — New American Standard)

If you believe in the Lord Jesus and have given your life to Him, you have much to rejoice about. You have a Savior who has forgiven all your sins and who has made you a child of God. You have His continual presence and help in your life right now — and you are going to live forever. So do as the apostle says, “Rejoice in the Lord always"! Don't worry. Don’t be anxious about anything. Instead, pray about everything. After all, you are God's child and He has promised to help you and answer your prayers. If you worry — and allow fear and anxiety to bounce around in your heart and mind — you are blocking God's work in your life. Even worse, you are opening up your life to Satan's work and lies.

You can control your thoughts (though you may be used to thinking that you can’t). Refuse to worry or to be fearful, and choose to believe and trust God. The promises of God's word are true; millions of people have tested them and found that they really do work. Let God know what you need, thank Him for what He has and will do, then allow His divine peace and confidence flood your soul and guard you from all of Satan's deceptions. Don't allow worry and fear to dominate your thoughts — reject them! Cast them out! Replace them with prayer and faith.

Some people have a hard time controlling their thoughts. You may have been a “worrier” all your life, and may even have had parents who worried. But you can change. Jesus told us that we cannot accomplish anything through worry — we cannot add a day to our lives or keep one hair from falling out. So get busy and break the habit of worry. Avoid negative people and negative thoughts. Fill your mind with God's promises. Read His Word and talk to people who’ve seen the greatness of God.

Few people in this world know what a real prayer is — the one that’s described in this verse. Most people pray, present their problems to God, ask for what they need, and then get up from their prayer and act as if they had never prayed. There is no peace, no freedom from concern, and no confidence about God’s answer — all in stark contrast to what the above verse says about true prayer. There is a peace that “surpasses all comprehension”, which “guards our hearts and our minds” in Christ Jesus. This is not a feeling. It is a decision to trust in God; a decision to be at peace. If we don’t have that, then we haven’t really prayed. — So let’s be obedient and rejoice in every situation, knowing that it will all turn out for the very best because of our faith in the Lord Jesus.