Something Different About You.

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9. Did you notice the phrase “a peculiar people” in our opening verse? That's you; you’re a peculiar being. There’s something different about you; you’re unique; you’re not like everybody else. Never talk down on yourself or allow anyone talk you down. You’re a partaker of the divine nature, a God-carrying vessel. You represent divinity. You’re a heavenly being. You’re the extension and expression of Christ in your world. It brings to mind a lovely testimony by one of our pastors of a certain family that came to see him in his office. The family had a three-year-old girl with them. After they had exchanged pleasantries with the pastor and shared nice thoughts from God’s Word, they turned to leave. As they walked away, the little girl noticed a picture on the wall, stopped, turned to her parents and the pastor, and said, “This is Jesus Christ on TV,” pointing to my picture that the pastor had on the wall in his office. But that’s exactly what Jesus said about us; we’re bearers of His divine presence. Jesus minced no words in John 14:9 when He said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” Jesus is the image or icon of the invisible God (2 Corinthians 4:4, Colossians 1: 15). That means He’s the visual representation of God, the profile of God. Hebrews 1: 3 says He’s the brightness of God’s glory and the “express image” of His person. The Greek term for the expression “express image” is “character” and it means facsimile or print copy. Jesus is the facsimile or print copy of God. Then, the Bible says, “As He is, so are we in this world!” Can you see why you must never see yourself as an ordinary person? Christ in you makes you different. You’re the effulgence of His glory, the express image of His person. Hallelujah.

Confession:

I'm a unique and precious treasure to God, a bearer of His divine presence, the effulgence of His glory, the express image of His person, born anew with the supernatural life of glory, excellence and power in my spirit! Today, through my words and actions, I manifest the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of my heavenly Father who has called me to glory, honour and excellence, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

1 Peter 2:9 AMPC; Hebrews 1:3; 1 John 4:17

1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:

Mark 11:27-12:1-17 & Numbers 18-19

2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:

Acts 24:22-27 & Psalm 59-60

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. 1 Peter 3:18. Has it really dawned on you that Jesus Christ was crucified for us? He actually became us on the Cross. Not only did He bear our sins, He also bore our very nature of sin. That’s why the Bible says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus was our sin-bearer and thus was made sin, meaning that we were literally on that Cross when Jesus was crucified. He wasn’t only our representative, He was our substitute; our sins were laid on His spirit. He took our nature and took our place. There’s the legal aspect and there’s the vital aspect. He was legally your representative and vitally you on the Cross. What’s the implication of all these? If He took your place and nature, it means you now have His place and nature as well. He took your place so that you might take His place. Therefore, since He was sinless, that means you have His sinless nature now that you’re born again. Now you can understand why the Bible says in 1 Peter 2:9, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation….” Did you notice that it says you’re holy? It’s the result of the sacrifice and substitutionary work of Jesus Christ in your behalf. He took your sin-nature and made you holy. Now you can live a holy life. Hallelujah! The most beautiful part isn’t that He took our place and our nature but His purpose for doing it. It was to give us His place and His nature. Ephesians 2:4-6 is so beautiful; it says, “But God, who is rich in mercy…hath quickened us together with Christ…And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” He gave us His place of glory, dominion, power, honour, and majesty, and made us partakers of His divine nature. Today, you’re as righteous as Jesus is righteous. You have the same life with Him: “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5: 11 - 12). Blessed be God!

Prayer:

Dear Father, I thank you for the sacrifice and substitutionary work of Jesus Christ in my behalf, for which the righteousness of God has been imparted to my spirit. Now, I’ve been justified by faith and ushered into a life of peace with you through the Lord Jesus Christ, with dominion over sin and circumstances, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 6:3-5

1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:

Mark 11:1-26 & Numbers 16-17

2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:

Acts 24:10-21 & Psalm 57-58

For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Romans 5: 17. love what Paul said in Philippians 3: 8-9, referring to the supremacy of the righteousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ. He said, “…that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” When you confessed the Lordship of Jesus over your life, instantly, His righteousness was imparted to you. The righteousness of Christ is flawless; that’s the righteousness you have. It’s perfect and therefore can’t be improved upon. Nothing you do today will make you more righteous or less righteous before God. When God looks at you, He sees the righteousness of Christ. That’s why Paul said in Galatians 2: 20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Just as you’re now living by the faith of the Son of God, you’re no longer living by your own righteousness; you're living by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus was righteous before God, and He was the only one who qualified to be our substitute, being the only One who was born sinless, because He was born of a virgin. Romans 4: 25 tells us that He “…was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” This is followed by Romans 5: 1 which says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” To be “justified” means to be declared righteous as though you never sinned, because no charges were found against you. Hallelujah! Today, if you’ve been struggling to be righteous, you’re on a journey to nowhere. We couldn’t attain righteousness by ourselves; that’s why God gave us His own righteousness. You’re as righteous as Jesus is righteous because He substituted His righteousness for your sin-nature and gave you eternal life in the new birth. Hallelujah!

Confession:

The ability to be right, to do right, and to produce fruits and works of righteousness is inherent in my spirit. I’m living by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I’m as righteous as Jesus is righteous. Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY:

Philippians 3:7-9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:8-9

1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:

Mark 10:32-52 & Numbers 14-15

2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN:

Acts 24:1-9 & Psalm 56

Born into the Kingdom of His love-son.

Colossians chapter 1: 12 - 13. Giving thanks unto the Father...Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. Did you know that you have power over the forces of darkness and can rule over them? That’s because you’re a new creation, and the new creation should never be in bondage or servitude to Satan and the powers of darkness. You were born into the Kingdom of God’s Love-Son. The new creation is one with the Lord; you’re seated together with Christ, “Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1: 21). Christians who find themselves at the mercy of demons and demonic activities aren’t exercising their authority and dominion in Christ. When you were born again, you were given the authority in the Name of Jesus to cast out devils and Satan knows it. It’s the first sign Jesus said would follow those who believe in Him: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils...” (Mark 16: 17). Then in Luke 10: 19, He said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” You’ve got to put the Word of God to work. If you ever notice or perceive that Satan is stirring up things around you—maybe in your health, your job, family, or in the lives of your loved ones—cast him out. Maybe it’s in your city or nation, cast him out in the Name of Jesus and subdue the situation. Learn to walk in the light of God’s Word and insist that what God has said is truth. Being born again, you’re superior to Satan; you’re not under the authority or jurisdiction of demons. You don’t belong in their domain because you were born into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. That’s where you are now. Hallelujah!

Confession:

The Lord has given me the power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the ability of the enemy. Therefore, Satan has no place in my life, in my home, or the lives of my loved ones, because I’ve been vested with all power and authority in heaven and in the earth to subdue, dominate, and take charge of my world. Hallelujah!

FURTHER STUDY:

Colossians 2:15 NKJV; Luke 10:19; Colossians 1:12-13 AMPC

1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN

Mark 10:1-31 & Numbers 11-13

2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN

Acts 23:22-35 & Psalm 55

For sin shall not have dominion over

you... (Romans 6:14).

Our opening verse says sin shall not have dominion

over you; this is because the man or woman

who’s born again is born sin-free. In a previous verse, the

Apostle Paul, talking about our righteousness, salvation

and the grace that we’ve received from God and how they

came about, asked a thought-provoking question, “...How

shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

(Romans 6:2).

Paul wasn’t referring to himself and the other apostles

alone but to all of us; we’re dead to sin. That means sin

has no power over you because the nature of sin was

supplanted with the nature of righteousness.

1 Corinthians 15:56 lets us know that the strength

of sin is the Law, but the very thing that gave life to sin,

which is the Law, has been abolished by Jesus. Ephesians

2:14-15 says, “For he is our peace, who hath made

both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of

partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the

enmity, even the law of commandments contained in

ordinances….”The Lord Jesus has given us victory over sin, death

and the grave! We’ve been made, not just righteous, but

the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. See yourself

in this light. The unregenerate man, the person who isn’t

born again, on the other hand, is a sinner by nature and

enslaved to sin. He can’t but sin, even when he doesn’t

want to, because he has the nature of sin.

But this isn’t the case with you; you’re righteous by

nature. God made it so. Your righteousness is a gift from

God (Romans 5:17), and that righteousness gives you the

ability to do right and live right.

There’s nothing you could have done on your own,

through your own human perfection to become righteous.

Likewise, there’s also nothing you can do or not do

that’ll make you less righteous before God. You’re as

righteous as Jesus is righteous because He substituted

His righteousness for your sin-nature.

CONFESSION

Being justified by faith, I’ve been made righteous; I’m

sin-free because Christ has given me a new life. He

substituted His righteousness for my sin-nature. Now, I’m

alive to God and live unto righteousness. I’m washed; I’m

sanctified; I’m justified, in the Name of the Lord Jesus,

and by the Spirit of our God. Amen.

FURTHER STUDY:

Romans 6:1-14

1-Year-Bible-Reading-Plan

Mark 9:1-13 & Numbers 6

2-Year-Bible-Reading-Plan

Acts 22:22-30 & Psalm 48-49

According as he hath chosen us in him

before the foundation of the world, that

we should be holy and without blame

before him in love: Having predestinated

us unto the adoption of children by

Jesus Christ to himself, according to the

good pleasure of his will, To the praise

of the glory of his grace, wherein he

hath made us accepted in the beloved

(Ephesians 1:4-6).

Consider the tenses in what we just read! Look what

we’ve got! It’s part of the reasons you should never

think weakness, failure, defeat, poverty or sickness. Your

life was preordained and carefully planned by God for the

praise of His grace. He planned ahead of time to bring us

up in Christ for the praise of the glory of His grace so that

when people see us, they say, “Wow, God is great!”

It parallels something similar that the Bible says

in Ephesians 2:10 AMPC: “For we are God’s [own]

handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ

Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works

which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us

[taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that

we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].” He

preordained you for an excellent life. Glory to God.

That means there’s no room for frustration, sadness

and gloom in your life. There's no need to be jealous or

envious of anyone. You were fashioned for an excellent

life. He had everything about your life well thought out;

none of us is a mistake.

There's nothing about your life that God didn't know

was coming; no surprises. And all these are based on His

excellent wisdom. Read our theme scripture further to the

8th verse; it says, “Wherein he hath abounded toward

us in all wisdom and prudence.”

In other words, there's nothing about your life that's

outside the framework of God's conception. He’s already

done everything He needed to do for your life to be a

continual stream of testimonies. Therefore, live joyfully

every day, praising Him. Hallelujah!

Prayer

Dear Father, I live joyfully every day, praising you,

knowing that your nature is in me and your brand is on

me. I’m fashioned for good works and to live the good

life which you have prearranged for me. There’s no room

for frustration, sadness and gloom in my life because I’m

a superior being, created without any defect. I function

perfectly and excellently for your glory. Amen.

Further study

Ephesians 2:10 NLT; James 1:18; Jeremiah 29:11

1- Year Bible reading plan

Mark 8:27-38 & Numbers 5

2- Year Bible reading plan

Acts 22:11-21 & Psalm 46-47

Every good gift and every perfect gift

is from above, and cometh down from

the Father of lights, with whom is no

variableness, neither shadow of turning

(James 1:17).Something is wrong when someone who was

once doing very well financially suddenly starts

experiencing unimaginable, protracted financial trouble.

Until and unless that individual discerns that that isn’t God’s

plan for any of His children, he may blame circumstances,

the government or other people around him for his

predicament.

He might even blame himself for taking certain actions

that he shouldn’t have. But the question is: Does he really

know the truth? It’s important that you know who you are,

who God is, what you have in Him, and who He is to you.

God is your source.

The Bible says we’re heirs of God and joint-heirs

with Christ. In Christ, your prosperity is stable and everincreasing. It’s from glory to glory. We don’t go up to come

down. It makes no difference the level of inflation and how

unstable the world’s economy gets; when you recognize

that your true source is the Lord, you’ll be independent of circumstances, unruffled by the state of the world’s

economy.

The Bible declares what the one who’s blessed of the

Lord shall be like: “For he shall be as a tree planted

by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by

the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but

her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in

the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding

fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8). This tells you something about the

consistency of the prosperity of God’s people, following

God’s plans.

Part of your new creation heritage is that you’re

plugged into an unending supply. Your source never

runs dry. Your source isn’t the government, society, job,

business, family or anyone else for that matter; it’s the

Lord. Look to Him and trust Him for your finances as you

act on His principles for financial abundance. CONFESSION The Lord is my Shepherd—to feed, guide and shield me; I

lack nothing! He makes me lie down in fresh, tender green

pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. Therefore, I

walk in ever-increasing prosperity, possessing enough to

require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for

every good work and charitable donation. Glory to God!

FURTHER STUDY:

Psalm 1:1-3; 2 Corinthians 9:8 AMPC; Luke 6:38

1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN

Mark 8:14-26 & Numbers 3-4

2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN

Acts 21:40-22:1-10 & Psalm 44-45

For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live] (Ephesians 2:10 AMPC).

In John 10:10 AMPC, Jesus said, “…I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).” You weren’t born to merely live but to live the good life which God prepared for you ahead of time—an excellent life. It’s the reason you should always be full of joy and

strength, doing great things and blessing your world every day. He’s given you a great life; a life of purpose, power and abundance. It doesn’t matter the challenges you face; you’re victorious in Christ Jesus.

Jesus gave you a life that’s beyond this world, a life that’s superior to the decadence and corruption of this failing world; a life that’s divine. Glory to God! Maybe you’ve been living in fear because of some diagnosis from

the doctors about your health; the life in you is superior

to sickness. The Bible says in Romans 8:10 ESV, “But if Christ is

in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” You’ve arrived in the place where sickness and disease have lost their grip on you. Therefore, let go of the fears.

Greater is He that’s in you than any sickness that may attempt to fasten itself on you: “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John

4:4). You’ve overcome diabetes, heart trouble, chest pain, cancer, fibroid, or whatever health challenge it may be! Live and enjoy your life in sound health, prosperity, peace and joy unspeakable and full of glory. Hallelujah!

Confession I’m living the good life prearranged for me before the

foundation of the world. I live in the victory, glory,

dominion and righteousness of Christ every day. I’m a

success; I live in health, because the life of God is in me;

my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit! Blessed be God!

FURTHER STUDY:

Ephesians 2:10 AMPC; John 10:10 AMPC

1-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN

Mark 7:24-8:1-13 & Numbers 1-2

2-YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN Acts 21:27-39 & Psalm 42-43