“Freedom from lack, from fear, from addictions, from the torment of guilt, and from every curse and every sin” (332).
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Who among us doesn’t wrestle with at least one of these categories? Who isn’t looking for relief, help, a way out?
Well, if you know Jesus as your Savior, you have a right to such freedoms. So how do we appropriate what Jesus provided for us in His death and Resurrection? How do we live free from that long list above? It all starts with your mind, with what you believe. And this book will help you zero in on your wrong thinking and help you begin thinking correctly. Once you start thinking correctly, you’re on your way to…right-believing! As Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind….,” or Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Change your thoughts to change what you believe and change your world.
So what is it Joseph Prince says we need to start believing in our minds and hearts?
Papa God LOVES you!
Oh, sure. We all KNOW God loves us, but do we BELIEVE it? When you mess up, sin, or otherwise make some sort of booboo on your walk with Christ, do you believe in that love enough to know that what you did wasn’t bad enough to stop His love for you—even just a little—or do you believe that whatever you did has cancelled out His love for you, and now you’re in trouble with God and have to jump through hoops to get His love again and be right before Him? If you chose “A,” you have right-believing already. If you chose “B,” you NEED to read this book.
Seriously, if you’re in either group, read this book. It’s so good, I wept through much of it—tears of discovery, tears of forgiveness, tears of joy, tears of right-believing.
The following is a truncated version of my testimony, which gives a glimpse into why I needed to read this book and get into right-believing.
When I was young, I used to hear stories about how people would come to Christ and, as they described it, would leave the house to find the sky was bluer, the grass greener. I was, it turns out, a very literal child (as evidenced by my interpretation of my grandpa’s advice: I was 2 or 3 and trying to put my shoe on. I was having trouble, and he, watching me struggle, said, “Alicia, you need to put the tongue out,” so I did—MY tongue! It sent Grandpa into paroxysms of laughter as I continued to struggle with my shoe BUT had MY tongue out!) and, after having asked Jesus into my life at seven, found the grass just as green as ever, the sky the same hue of blue, so I, literal child that I was, thought that meant Jesus didn’t come into my life. Oh, boy. How the devil used this to mess me up for WAY too long. Around 13, I finally, after years of trying to be good enough for God to want me and finding, each time I said the Salvation prayer, that, unlike those others’ testimonies about being instantly delivered from whatever sin-hold they had, I continued on messing up, sinning—unable to attain perfection, and I came to the conclusion that God didn’t want me, that I must’ve been the ONE person God couldn’t or wouldn’t save, and so I said to Him, “Well, if You don’t want me, then I’m gonna stop trying to be good and have fun on my way to Hell”—and so started my life of rebellion.
But God.
Over the next 12 years, no matter how angry I was at God, deep down, that God-shaped void in my life continued to cry out for Papa, PLEASE, to love me. How I wanted a Father. How I wanted HIM! So God came through for His confused daughter (and I was His daughter because I HAD asked Him into my life, even though I’d rebelled)! First, He sent me to Dr. June Hunt. Through her, I learned that all those “bluer-skies, greener-grass” stories didn’t happen for everyone, that, for most people (including her), you just have to ask and know, by faith, that you’re saved, which was a concept completely at odds with what I’d come to believe, so I was eager to rededicate my life at 21. But I kept on sinning, though I TRIED to be good, believing that God was ready to unleash the thunderbolts at me for being a screw-up. At 25, I wanted—NEEDED an answer: How could I be saved and still basically be the same, though I desired change? Enter Joyce Meyer, whom God sent my way to tell me her story, that she’d been a Christian for 20 years without changing a thing, though she was saved. God showed her Romans 12:2, and, through Joyce, He’d shown me. It and the day I learned not everyone experienced some cosmic change when he accepted Christ were the most amazing moments in my Christian life. To KNOW I was saved and that I had to renew my mind if I wanted to see things change, were life-changing for me.
And then came this book, which God had sent to me out of nowhere (thank You, Papa). It provided another AHA! moment for me and continued my education on just Who God really is. This book is all about Grace. God’s Grace. Sweet and amazing Grace. I’d heard Creflo Dollar preach about it, but, though I recognized it was something I needed to understand, I just couldn’t seem to wrap my mind around Creflo’s teaching. (And that’s no disparagement to him. I love Creflo and usually get plenty out of his lessons—but, for whatever reason, his Grace message just wasn’t clicking for me.) And I asked God for help. In His timing, He sent me Joseph Prince’s book (and Creflo Dollar was the first person I’d heard say how amazing Joseph Prince and his message of the Gospel of Grace was—so see? Creflo came through for me with God’s help ). It’s written so well (he’s an excellent story-teller) and is so thorough! As I read, I’d ask a question, wanting clarification or an example, and, as I kept reading, Pastor Prince would answer my question in the exact manner (by the Word, story, or drawing) I needed it.
It’s a long book, but it is SO worth the time. Please, I beg you—read it! You’ll see God in a new light. He’s a loving, good, sweet, caring, WONDERFUL Papa—not a cruel, harsh, hard, exacting God. All your flaws, sins, mistakes—whatever you know isn’t quite “there” yet—is covered by Jesus. When you were saved, Jesus came to live in you, and YOU live in Jesus. When God sees you, He doesn’t see a flawed and sinful John or Jane Doe; He sees Jesus. Oh, please read this book. There’s too much in it for me to do it justice. It’s one of those books you need to read, say, twice a year to glean all the nuggets of wisdom and knowledge within. The Holy Spirit will KEEP opening up to you the truths you’ll find inside. Plus, you need to keep reading it so you can get it down inside you and give it a chance to help you change your thinking and get you to start believing correctly. You’ll see. You’ll fall in love with your Abba Papa.
Oh, I forgot to mention Pastor Prince includes testimonies from people who, just as you, suffered
from some sort of addiction or overpowering sin and broke free, thanks to God’s Grace. (I capitalize Grace, by the way, because Grace is a Person; Grace is Jesus, as it says in John 1:17—as you’ll learn all about inside.) Pastor Prince even gives his own testimonials, too—one of which surprised me to read I had experienced, too! Which means God sent me the book because I wanted to understand Grace AND because I’d prayed for help to understand this thing happening to me.
To wrap it up, I’ll leave you with some final thoughts/words from Pastor Prince (pages 332-333):
“Did you know that the enemy has no hold over people who know their Father loves them? If Adam and Eve had believed in God’s love for them, the devil would not have been successful in tempting them. Unfortunately, they chose to believe the lie that the serpent had planted by portraying God as stingy and selfish, as if He [were] withholding something good for them.
“That’s why I want you to be anchored in the Father’s love. You will be unshakable. You will have no desire to touch certain things, go to certain places, or be associated with certain people. You will keep away from negative influences because you trust your Father’s heart for you and believe that He only wants what’s best for you. You rest, knowing that He is watching out for you to protect you and insulate you from harm.
“I’ve seen that children who are secure in their father’s love are able to say no to all kinds of temptations. This is because that vacuum in their lives is already filled. They don’t have to do things to win the approval of their friends when they can find absolute (332) security, identity, and approval in their parents’ love for them and, most of all, in their [H]eavenly Father’s love for them.
“In the same way, when we trust in our Father’s love for us, we will have the power to say no to temptations. When you have an abiding revelation of just how valuable, precious, and righteous you are in Christ, it becomes increasingly easy to say no to sin.
“Let me illustrate this. If you are wearing a nicely pressed white shirt, would you want to play in the mud? Of course not! Why? Because you are conscious that your dazzling white outfit and mud don’t go together. Similarly, when you are cognizant of your righteous identity in Christ, would you want to wallow in the mud and filth of sin? The truth is, the more righteousness-conscious you are and the more conscious of how valuable and precious you are in Christ, the more you will know that your righteous identity in Christ and sin don’t go together—and the more you will experience the power to say no to temptation” (333).
Grade: A+