The Power of Right Believing , 2013 348 pgs Joseph Prince Book on Grace and Healing
Introduction: He states there are 7 Keys to Right believing and that’s how its covered in the book: 1. Believe in Gods love for you 2. Learn to see what God sees 3. Receive Gods complete forgiveness 4. Win the Battle for your mind 5. Be free from self occupation 6. Have a confident expectation of Good 7. Find rest in the Fathers love. Chap. 1 What you believe is powerful. God wants to light your way. Grace is the antidote for a poisoned Mind. John 1:17 ” for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Grace came to free your from the curse of the law. Jesus is Grace. When you taste Jesus love and His loving kindness and tender mercies, every wrong belief begins to dissolve. Kate was freed from alcoholism by Prince’s grace teaching. Whatever you are oppressed with Jesus came to set you free. Mistakes of your past need not determine your future. Chap. 2 God who seeks the Shunned. Example the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus is reaching out to you with His love, grace and forgiveness. He reaches out to the imperfect. He comes to you in the midst of your storm and leads you through. The good shepherd goes ahead of you. Ps. 23:4 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff(a shepherd’s equipment) they comfort me.” Ps. 103:8-12 “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us” How can God be punishing you, if he Him self removed your sins? God is pleased when you draw upon His love.; Just like he gave the woman at the well living water. John 4:14 “It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” Chap. 3 Jesus loves me! this I know. Anna B. Warner wrote the song. No matter what challenges, failures, problems one may be dealing with, the love of Jesus remains constant. His love is unconditional. You can receive Gods love afresh, even when you fail. Guilt and condemnation stop where the blood of Jesus has been shed and applied. Believers who have been purchased with the blood of Jesus, should be bold, confident and able to talk to God. Fill your heart with psalms , hymns, and spiritual songs. Part 2 Learn to see what God sees. Chap. 4. Play the right mental moves. Learning to see what God sees involves replacing our wrong thoughts with right ones based on God’s word. 2 Cor. 12:9 “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” In your area of lack,struggle, or challenge, see his super-abounding grace all around you. Press in to see what God sees. Rom. 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Who is your interior decorator? Don’t get caught in fear. His perfect love casts out all fear, as in 1John 4:18 Isa. 26:3 “You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.” Prioritize the word over Material pursuits Ps. 21:1 He is the shepherd of your soul. Chap. 5 See yourself as God sees you. A good question is- what does God see when he looks at you? Heb. 8:8-10,12 “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts.I will be their God, and they will be My people.” “For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins” The cross stands for all eternity as declaration of Jesus’ love for us. john 3:14-15 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.(not perish) Make Jesus, his forgiveness and love as the center of your life. see song: Jesus as the Center. 1 John 4:17 “In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, for we are as He is in this world.” We are his beloved as in Eph.1:6 Rom. 5:17 “how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” Matt. 8:17 “He Himself took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.”What Jesus did on the cross is a finished work for us. I will continue reading the book during the break. Chap. 6 Gods people are blessed. Numbers Chap. 23: It’s noted how God convinced Balaam, a non believer, to rebel against Balak’s orders to curse Israel. They are to be blessed, not cursed. In Christ you are blessed. Gal. 3:13-14 “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed. The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.” God watches over you. Ps. 121:7-8 “The Lord will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.” The key to faith is found in looking to the source of faith- Jesus. When Peter fixed his eye on Jesus he walked on water. The more you behold Jesus the more you are transformed to glory. 2 Cor. 3:18 “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” Your are an overcomer through Christ. (MY note: This book was assigned to my class, but I did not find time to review it all back in Nov 2024, so my review of Chap 6 is new, and now I’m led to – 16) Chap.16 The Battle Belongs to the Lord. As many evil armies came up to Jerusalem, King Jehoshaphat of Judah was worried and called for a state of emergency. They were outnumbered many times over. See 2 Chron. 20:1-4. Have you been in a situation like this, when your plight appeared hopeless? Their plight in the natural appeared hopeless. He wasn’t a valiant warrior king full of faith. The King set himself to seek the Lord and gathered the peoples. He prayed in the courtyard before the people. 2 chron. 20: 6-12 “Yahweh, the God of our ancestors, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You. Are You not our God who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and who gave it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend? They have lived in the land and have built You a sanctuary in it for Your name and have said, “If disaster comes on us-sword or judgment, pestilence or famine-we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your name is in this temple. We will cry out to You because of our distress, and You will hear and deliver.” — For we are powerless before this vast number that comes to fight against us. We do not know what to do, but we look to You. There are parts to his prayer: acknowledging God and his power, seeking his help, depending on him. Later on, praising him. God is not the author of ones troubles, but the author and finisher of our faith and victory. We are to have biblical hope. Hope in the bible is defined as a confident expectation of good. Rom. 8:28 : We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.” Rom. 5:5 “This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Ps. 118:29 “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.” Then the spirit of the Lord came on Jahaziel and he spoke the words of the Lord: 2 Chron. 20:15-17 “and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, go down against them. You will see them coming up the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the Wilderness of Jeruel. You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Tomorrow, go out to face them, for Yahweh is with you.’” Prince says when you do not know what to do, stand still, and trust the Lord. But pastor, if I stand still, nothing will happen! Prince says standing still is not doing nothing, its posture of hope and trusting the Lord, especially if he speaks in some way to you. Believe the big battles belong to the Lord. 2 Chron. 20:18-21 “Then Jehoshaphat bowed with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord to worship Him. Then the Levites from the sons of the Kohathites and the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel shouting with a loud voice.”– In the morning they got up early and went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. As they were about to go out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe in Yahweh your God, and you will be established; believe in His prophets, and you will succeed.” Then he consulted with the people and appointed some to sing for the Lord and some to praise the splendor of His holiness. When they went out in front of the armed forces, they kept singing: Give thanks to the Lord, for His faithful love endures forever.” This verse appears many times in the bible. Prince says this is a strange battle technique, uncommon in battles. What happened? The Lord confused the enemy armies and they fought against each other killing them all. It took Judah 3 days to collect all the spoil from the dead armies that were against the Lord! The valley of the battle was named Berachah, which means blessing. When David brought the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem he sang — Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. 1 Chron. 16:34 Chap. 8 Fresh Grace for Every Failing Prince relayed oh bitterness can creep in when we have unresolved guilt that causes some self condemnation. There id a redeeming quality to being forgiveness conscious as opposed to being sin conscious. p. 123 When we realizes that we don’t deserve God’s forgiveness and grace, yet he gives it to us anywayanyaway, this us from within. Grace is his undeserved, unmerited favor. As you receive, this guilt and addictions melt away. We need to say- I am the righteousness of God in Jesus. Thank you Jesus for loving me. Today I receive your forgiveness and am favored, blessed and healed for every disease; Amen. Chap. 10 Win the battle in your mind. The battle is not so much without but within our mind. John 8:32 “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Wrong beliefs will keep you defeated but right ones will give you the breakthrough and healing. Our emotions are flags that indicate our thoughts. We can slide down the slippery slope to fear, doubt pessimism and anxiety. If our thoughts are positive in Christ, they will produce positive emotions.1John 4:4 “You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” Isa. 54:17 “No weapon formed against you will succeed,
and you will refute any accusation raised against you in court.” 2 Cor. 10:3-5 “For though we live in the body, we do not wage war in an unspiritual way, since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ. ” We need to abide in his words. p155. For whatever we are addicted to, was say we are not addicted. We say I am a child of God, I am healed, forgiven, righteous in Jesus. He cites a testimony of a man who overcome a porn addiction by following Prince’s teaching. Chap. 13 Be free from Self Occupation. Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Rom 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” This change comes from an inward heart transformation sustained by the power and love our Lord Jesus. His power and love work best when we stop striving and depend on Him. When you become occupied with Christ, you will become increasingly untouched by the things of the world. Then the fruits of the spirit will flow: love, peace, joy, kindness, self control. You will become bold in Christ but not prideful. 2 Cor. 3:18 “We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” The answer is found in the person of Jesus. Nothing will be able to separate you from the love of Christ, Rom. 8:35-9. Those who are in Christ have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires, Gal. 5:24. 2 Cor. 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” We are forgiven and righteous in Him. Chap. 14 Center on Jesus Prince cites the Luke 24 on Jesus informing the disciples during the walk to Emmaus; here its important to know Jesus via the scriptures and right believing. Here fill your thoughts with Jesus rather than worry or fear. We need to read the word and see Jesus in it. He doesn’t want you defeated because of lack of knowledge of His grace. He wants you to be quick in believing in his promises. Prov. 4:18 But the path of the just (righteous) is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until [it reaches its full strength and glory in] the perfect day. In Christ your future is blessed. Its full of his favor and all of the right open doors, opportunities., provision, health, wisdom, love and peace. Just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice his dear son Issac, God also sacrificed his dear son, Jesus to show his love for us. John 3:16-17 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Chap. 17 God loves it when you ask Big. see PS. 103 What would you ask God for if you knew that He is good and his love for you endures forever? Prince says write down a wish list from God. God is not offended when we ask big things. Jabez did in 1 Chron. 4:10 “Jabez called out to the God of Israel: “If only You would bless me, extend my border, let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm, so that I will not experience pain.” And God granted his request.” Jer. 33:3 “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know.” Matt. 7: 7-11 “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Jer. 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you”-this is the Lord’s declaration-“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Prince tells a testimony of a girl in Malaysia who was very poor and abandoned by her parents. At age 9 she worked in sweat shop making baskets for pennies. Still she felt God was watching over her. and she got an opportunity to attend school and did so well that her teachers encouraged her to go Singapore for a university. By working a job she finished her college chemistry degree and found a good job. She was invited to attend Prince’s church in Singapore. She grew more in the Lord there and founded her own business which prospered greatly. You may have temporary difficulties, but can overcome them with the Lord. John 16:33 “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” Chap 18 Finding Hope when it seems Hopeless He tells the story of the woman with issue of blood in Mark 5. She was hopeless after 12 yrs of seeking cures. But she heard of Jesus and his miracle healings and of lepers; She became convinced if she just touched his garment she would be healed, and was. Because of her condition, she was considered an outcast, still she thought it safe to approach Jesus. What we hear about God is vital and we need the correct understanding of his grace. Its good to start our day with words of Jesus and to be satisfied with his grace. Ps. 84:10 “Better a day in Your courts than a thousand anywhere else. I would rather be at the door of the house of my God than to live in the tents of wicked people.”
8 The both now and forever.