John 14:1
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.”
INSIGHT
-The word believe in Hebrew is written as pistos which means to have faith in or to credit upon the testimony of another or to be persuaded of the truth of, upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by circumstances other than personal knowledge; to regard or accept as true; to place confidence in; to think; to consider; as, to believe a person, a statement, or a doctrine. As we began this series of believing Jesus Christ, we bear the true testimony that Jesus came and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. He died for our sins and resurrected of the third day. He ascended into heaven and now we witness Him through the power of the Holy Spirit as we have hope of His eternal calling. Jesus reminds us to believe in God and also to believe in Him as He is the Son of God. When we believe in Him we have peace in our hearts and He takes away all forms of trouble and anxiety. Romans 5:1-2, reminds us that, since we “have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” This is the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, that we have access to Him now as He broke all barriers through His blood, and He has gone to prepare a place for us in heaven.
PRAYER
This is the day the that You have made Lord; we rejoice and are glad in it. Save us Oh Lord and grant us success. Lord You have made Your light shine upon us. You are our faithful God, we give thanks to You. We humbly ask You forgive us all our trespasses and wash us with Your precious blood. May You remove all accusations from us in the courts of heaven, our Savior and Advocate. You are our King, we exalt Your holy name. We give thanks to You Lord for You are good; and Your love endures forever. We shout joyfully to You Lord for Your victory resound in the tents of the righteous. We celebrate Your goodness and love upon us and upon all Your people. We glorify Your holy name for only You deserve all the glory and honor Jesus. May You grant us Your peace that surpasses all understanding. May You heal our wounds and bless our going out and coming in. May You bless us and guide us this entire week that we may prosper and be of good health. May You help us to accomplish all that You have called us to according to our books in heaven. May You hear our prayers and answer our hearts desires. May You make all our plans succeed according to You great love. We believe in You and hope in You dear Jesus for You are our Lord and Savior, and none can be compared to You. All glory, honor, power, praise and salvation belongs to You Jesus, now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Philippians 4:4-7
Romans 8:26-28
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 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. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
INSIGHT
-Believers have the benefit of having the Holy Spirit deep within our spirits. Psalm 46:1 reminds us that, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” The Holy Spirit is always present to help us in our weakness. He makes intercessory prays for us with groaning that cannot be uttered, and delivers us from all anxieties and guides us in all things. As a believer we are encouraged to pray in the spirit, and as we do so, God reveals to us much more through the Holy Spirit. This is essential in the life of a believer for through this we are also able to discern and always dwell in the will of God. Let us then strive to walk in the purposes of God in our lives and to always be in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, as all things work for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. How can we do this then? We can do this by reading the word of God, meditating on it and praying always. As we pray we should ask God to fill us afresh with the Holy Spirit and we are encouraged to desire the Spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit gives freely.
PRAYER
Our Wonderful Helper Holy Spirit, we come before You today with thanksgiving in our hearts. We thank You for Your unending love and mercies upon our lives. May You forgive us from all the sins and iniquities we have done, said or thought. May You guide us precious Holy Spirit and direct our steps always. We we commit our families, society and whole country unto Your able hands that You may take control. We pray that You reign and be exalted. You are our ever present help in times of trouble, may You intercede for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. May You intercede for our families, communities, and our whole nation at large and fill us afresh. You have promised that You will never leave us nor forsake us, may You draw near to us as we draw near to You. Dear Jesus, may You cancel all accusations that have been laid up against us in the courts of heaven. You are our Great High Priest and sure foundation, may You fight for us in all areas, for the battle belongs to You. We praise Your name and lift Your banner high in all the earth now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Hebrews 7:24-25
Psalm 18:35
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.
INSIGHT
-The Holy Spirit protects us and shields us with His grace of salvation. He defends us and holds us with lest we fall into the traps, snares and mischiefs of the enemy. Like David who received physical salvation and was delivered from the hand of Goliath, Saul and other destructive men, the Holy Spirit shields us from all evil. We also have the privilege of receiving every spiritual gift in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). He fills our hearts with meekness by which we are lifted at His appointed time. He propels us from one glory to the next, and enables us to perform our God given mandates, for the glory of His name.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, we praise and worship You. You are seated on the right hand of God theFather, we worship You. We exalt You today for Your name is Holy and Great. You are great and greatly to be praised. Father, we thank You for all You have done for us and for who You are we love You and honour You. We thank You for You have become the shield of our salvation and You have lifted us when we were downcast. You are worthy of our praise for You always fulfill Your promises and we trust in You dear Lord. May You make us great according to Your divine purposes, and cause Yourfavor to shine upon us that many may see and worship You. We commit our lives to You and we humbly implore You to turn our lives around and make us more than conquerors in all situations for we have victory in You. You are the most High God and You are able to do what You said You will do. We pray that You will remember the sick in the society and in our live and that You will stretch Your healing hand upon them. May You provide for all the needy and enable them to experience Your provision upon them and their families. Only You are good and You deserve to be worshipped, honored and praise. Amen
Further reading: James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
INSIGHT
-God has reconciled us to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Since then we have received the message of reconciliation that has come though His atoning blood, we have peace with God. There is no longer need now for a sacrifice for our sins through the blood of a lamb, for He is our High Priests, and we now look to Him, for His blood speaks better things than that of Abel. Christ’s blood was the price paid for our sins and was required to reconcile the exercise of mercy with justice, not as separate, but as the eternally harmonious attributes in the one and the same God. Christ has made us righteous through faith causing justification by His grace. We then have fellowship with the Holy Spirit and have access to God the Father through Christ (Ephesians 2:18). As believers we are the righteousness of God through Christ and we are called seek peace and be reconciled to one another. As ambassadors of the Prince of peace, we are called to be agents of peace and forgiveness, not evil and destruction, because for this reason Christ died for us. We then love one another and forgive one another for if we do not forgive, God will not forgive our sins (Matthew 6:15). As ambassadors of Christ, we are called to look to the things above with our eyes of faith, and not the things below which shrink us back (Hebrews 10:38).
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus we thank You for Your sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Thank You for Your blood that speaks better things than that of Abel. Thank You for Your grace of reconciliation in our hearts, that You have given us Prince of peace. May You help us to love one deeply for love covers a multitude of sins. May Your grace enable us to forgive each other and to be reconciled just like You desire dear Jesus. May You forgive us all our sins and wash us with Your precious blood. May You help us to remain in You dear Jesus our Vine as we are Your branches, that we may be fruitful in Your purposes, and that our faith may never fail. As Your ambassadors, may You empower us to be agents of peace, love, humility and compassion for the glory and honor of Your name. Our Father who art in heaven; hallowed be Your name; Your Kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptations but deliver us from evil; for thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory; forever and ever. Amen
Further reading: 1 Peter 4:8
1 Peter 1:3-5
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
INSIGHT
-Apostle Peter considered the salvation of God, his immediate response was to simply praise Him. Reason being the motive for God’s work is found in Him, not in us, according to His abundant mercy and grace. It is by the same grace that we are born again to a living hope because we have eternal life in Christ our Savior who has conquered death Himself. The hope lives because it is set upon an inheritance incorruptible that can never fade away because it is reserved in heaven. This is a significant contrast to any inheritance on this earth. We therefore in Christ have abundance of life now, which transcends into eternal life.
SUMMARY
There are innumerable benefits of believing in Christ Jesus. We cannot exhaust all of them as some are experiential and unique to each one, others are continually revealed by the Holy Spirit and a majority are common to everyone who is born of the Spirit. As children of God we rejoice in Him in every situation that we face, knowing that victory belongs to Him. In all situations we are reminded to give thanks for the battle belongs to Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is always available within us and He is there for us. He is our Helper and delivers us from every weakness, sometimes interceding for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. The Lord upholds us with His righteous right hand, and protects us from all danger. The Holy Spirit provides for our every need and sustains us. He guides us in every area of lives and makes us great according to His own will. As believers we have access to God’s grace that enables us to do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
PRAYER
Jesus You are good and Your mercies endures forever. We give thanks to You Lord of lords for Your mercies endures forever. You alone are great and greatly to be praised. You alone are great and awesome in wonder. You alone made the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. You alone made the sun, moon and stars and all the celestials for You are great and worthy to be praise. You created the seas, trees and all the animals in beauty and splendor. You created us in all Your own image and likeness we exult Your name. You delivered the Israelites from the hand of the Egyptian masters, we exult Your holy name. You are worthy Lord of our praise. You are the King of glory, may You fight for us all our battles and give us victory in all areas of our lives. We surrender all unto You, may You take over everything that concerns us. We humbly implore You Lord to forgive us our sins and remove all accusations against us in the courts of heaven. We exult You dear Jesus and praise Your holy name, now and forever. We give thanks to You and honor You, now and forever. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen
Further reading: 2 Corinthians 4:17-18