TO THE BIBLE: Isaiah 12:3 NIV

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

LET’S TALK

From the moment you were born again, you were brought into a life of unending joy. The Bible says in Romans 14: 17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Joy is an emotion evoked by satisfaction, appreciation and pleasure. God was joyful when He created the earth; He appreciated what He made and took pleasure in it (Genesis 1:31).

The joy you have is not of this world, but of God; therefore, it’s independent of external circumstances. 1 Peter 1:8 describes it as “…joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Everywhere Jesus went during His earthly walk, He brought joy to people, and He still does today. The joy that comes from your inner man (your spirit) transcends physical circumstances; it’s permanent, and it’ll keep you strong and healthy. The Bible says, “A merry heart doeth good like medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones” (Proverbs 17:22 KJV).

Learn to be joyful and maintain a happy spirit always. Joy is a fruit of the recreated human spirit (Galatians 5:22), so you can be joyful at all times. Produce joy from your spirit by making melodies and singing new songs from your heart to the Lord. The Lord delights to hear your joyful praise. Nehemiah 8:10 says, “…for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” God needs you to be joyful so you can transfer that same joy to your environment, for you can’t make others joyful until you’re full of joy yourself.

Go Deeper: 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Philippians 4:4

Pray

Dear Father, I thank you for filling my heart with joy unspeakable, and full of glory. I live joyfully today, knowing that you’re my God, and you delight in me, rejoicing over me daily with singing. Your joy is my strength! Thus, I live victoriously every day as I continually maintain a joyful spirit, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Act

Speak in tongues fervidly for a few minutes. Then sing songs of praise and let the joy of the Lord fill your heart to overflowing.

THE BEST ABOVE THE REST

(You’re God’s Favourite Creation)

No matter how fantastic and fascinating the physical creations of God might seem, you’re His best and favourite!

To The Bible James 1:17-18 NLT

“Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights. Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.”

LET’S TALK

Exotic wildlife, the rarest species of flora, breathtaking landmarks, and exquisite natural resorts, all tell of God’s wondrous creation, and remind us how great He is. However, as beautiful as all these creations of God are, you’re still His best and favourite.

I’m not talking about everyone in the world, but ‘you’ the new creation in Christ. God gave birth to you through His Word. You’re His pride and joy, His choice possession, and the best of all His creation! The fact that you’re born with the same life that God has is what makes you peculiar. Plants don’t have that life. Animals don’t have it either. Even the angels don’t have it, but you do (1 Peter 1:23-25).

When God looks at you, He sees His excellent handiwork. Therefore, don’t see yourself as a speck in the universe. You’re first-class through and through, the very best of everything God created!

Go Deeper Ephesians 2:10 AMP, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 4:11

RELATE:

Prayer

Dear Father, I’m honoured to know that I’m the best of all your creation. Thank you for giving me your very life and nature, and for blessing me with such inestimable grace, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Act

Take out time today to thank the Lord and worship Him for creating you the way you are.

TO THE BIBLE: Romans 6:4

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

LET’S TALK

Some people think all Jesus came to do was save us from sin; but that’s just one side of the story. He saved us from our sins alright, but He did that for a purpose—to make us sons of God! His ultimate aim was to give us a new life, the God-life! Saving us from our sins was only a means to an end. When He hung on the cross, we were all in Him, because He did it for all people. He was made sin for us; He took our place.

That’s the legality of redemption. Even though you hadn’t been born at the time He died, you were in Him. The same goes for all those who were born before He came—He was the representative of all men. When He died and was buried, in the mind of God, we all died and were buried in Him. And that was the end of sin; it was buried with Him.

However, that wasn’t the end of Jesus’ substitutionary work. On the third day, God raised Him from the dead. And when He rose from the dead, we also rose together with Him into a newness of life. Remember, our sins were buried with Him. Your past, with all its failures, weaknesses, and defeats, was buried with Him. Now, you have a new life in Christ Jesus; not a continuation of your old life. You’re a new creation now, superior to the devil, the world, and its systems. Hallelujah!

Go Deeper

2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 4:24; Romans 6:5

Pray

Dear Father, thank you for separating me from the destruction that ruins men’s lives and the judgment that works in the lives of men, having been identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Now I walk in the newness of life, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

ONE YEAR

1 Corinthians 13, Proverbs 1-2

TWO YEAR

Luke 19:28-40, 1 Samuel 17

Act

Walk with the consciousness that you’re now a child of God—free of all sin—living the divine life in Christ.

TO THE BIBLE: 1 John 5:11-12

“And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

LET’S TALK

Some young people get initiated as members of gangs, secret cults, and societies, because they believe they can get something more than the natural human life in such groups. They engage in all kinds of vices and nefarious activity, believing that they will give them the edge. However, no one needs to join such groups to obtain supernatural powers or influence. Indeed, there’s a life beyond the ordinary human life, and that’s the God-life found only in Christ! Jesus brought this life and immortality to light through the Gospel (2 Timothy 1:10).

In John 5:26, He declared, “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.” The life Jesus is referring to here is the God-life! You only find this life when you make Jesus Christ Lord of your life. It’s the life He had when He walked the face of the earth, and He had the fullness of it in Him (Colossians 1:19). This God-life is a special kind of life. It’s the life that, if anyone would have, he would live forever. It’s a life that dominates sickness and disease, and reigns over the devil; it’s the miracle-life of God.

However, this life is only for those who have received Christ Jesus: If you believe that God raised Jesus back to life, and have confessed Him as your Lord and Saviour, you’ll have this same life. This new divine life of God in you completely supplants the human life with which you were born of your parents; it’s a life beyond this world!

Go Deeper

John 3:16, John 20:31; 1 John 5:11-12

Pray

I’m conscious of the life of God in me. I live above sickness, disease, poverty, pain, and the devil, in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

ONE YEAR

John 14:15-31, 1 Chronicles 1-2

TWO YEAR

Mark 14:1-11, Numbers 32

Act

Tell your friends about this special life you have. And if they aren’t born again, tell them about Jesus and lead them to salvation, so they too can have this same life.

TO THE BIBLE: 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

LET’S TALK

2 Corinthians 5:17 is God’s sovereign declaration and revelation of the new person in Christ. Let’s look at this verse a little more closely. First, it says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ….” “Anyone” means any person at all, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. The moment you’re in Christ, in God’s mind, you’re a new creation without a past. Notice it doesn’t say, “he will be a new creation”; instead, it says, “…he is a new creation….” This isn’t a promise; it’s a statement of fact, a present-hour reality. If you’re in Christ, you’re a new creation NOW!

You’re not a reworked, renewed, or refurbished creation; you were born afresh, without a past! You’ve been baptised into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). It doesn’t matter whether or not you feel so; that’s God’s sovereign declaration of you, because you’re a new creation in Christ.

Your spirit, through faith in Christ Jesus, has been recreated, and you’re now the righteousness of God in Him. Therefore, you can declare boldly that you’re the righteousness of God. You’ve got the same life and nature with God now! And that nature has produced in you the rightness of God–the ability to do right and be right, and fulfill the Father’s will. In 1 John 4:17, the Bible says, “…as He is, so are we in this world”; you’re already like Him today, because He’s in you and you’re in Him.

Go Deeper

Romans 6:4; Galatians 3:27-29

Speak

I’m a new creation in Christ: old things are passed away, and all things have become new. I’m what God says I am, I have what God says I have, and as Jesus is, so am I in this world! Glory to God!

Daily Bible Reading

ONE YEAR

John 4:27-54, 1 Kings 2-3

TWO YEAR

Mark 9:2-13, Numbers 12

Act

Listen and meditate on the message titled, “How To Have A Great Day.”