I'm well aware that there are MANY skeptics that question the existence of God and/or His concern with human affairs. There is nothing I can say in a few paragraphs that can convince anyone of His eternal presence and His desire to interact with humanity. For me the question has never been whether or not He will speak to me. It has always been whether or not I can hear Him. Despite His wealth and popularity, He has made Himself available for ANYONE to access Him. However, just like anyone who knows their value, He has reserved INTIMACY for people who pursue Him with passion and perseverance. There are SOME women you can take to McDonald's on a first date and then have THEIR cookies for dessert. But there are others with higher self-esteem and self-worth that will make you pursue them for a long time (hopefully even marry them) before they give you some. God is far too valuable to be EXPECTED to answer us and interact with us after we spit a little game and step to Him with some half-hearted and weak pursuit. He may every now and then show us a peak to get us interested, but ultimately He rewards those that DILIGENTLY seek Him (Hebrews 11:5-7).

That being said, I believe I'm going to start making Wednesdays on this blog, "Worship Wednesdays." I don't feel like writing a dissertation on the power of worship today, but it has changed my life. God loves and responds to worship. It is an accelerant to prayer. As I was singing to Him yesterday morning I was watering the seed of prayer that I planted this week. I asked Him to give me a better understanding of His concern for me. As good as God has been throughout my whole life, I secretly wrestle with accepting good things or compliments. I have no problem receiving bad because I think I deserve it. My prayer has been for God to finalize within me and to allow me to accept what I know in my heart is His attitude towards me. Once I do, I'll have greater confidence in life, knowing that my entire future is SURE!

To make a long story short; I was going through my business emails yesterday after worship and decided to open one that I don't typically open. The message inside was as if God, Himself, had written it directly to me. I'll paste it below. I ANTicipate it will bless you as much as it blessed me!





Dear Anthony, 


God wants you to live and experience a good life — and it starts today with you having a confident expectation of good. Jesus came and did what He did to give you the highest form of life — God's life, "the zoe life" and for you to have it in abundance!

You may feel like you don't deserve this good life. You may feel like you have to do something to show that you are worthy of this kind of favor. We all know we've made mistakes, so we have this thought at the back of our minds that tells us that we need to be punished. In other words, we don't qualify for the good life.

Now, when you believe this, you find yourself waiting for punishment to show up in your life. And the moment something bad happens, you tell yourself, "This is judgment for my sin. I deserve this."

But Jesus came to set you free from a fearful expectation of judgment.  He wants you to wake up every day not afraid of what might happen, but anticipating His goodness, mercy and superabundant grace in your life!

Beloved, because of the finished work of the cross, you DON'T "get bad" from God when you make mistakes. The reality, based on your own merits, is that you deserve none of the blessings but all of the curses that God described in Deuteronomy 28. So, when you make a mistake or have missed it, that is when you need to run to Jesus to receive from Him the grace to overcome every mistake and failing (Romans 6:14).

But because of the divine exchange that happened at the cross,  you are not getting what you deserve!

In God's eyes, it's already been  forever settled — you don't receive the penalty of your sin, but rather, you receive the reward of Jesus' righteousness and all the good benefits that come from it because of Christ's sacrifice at the cross.

So today my friend, you live with a decision that will affect the quality of your life: Are you going to live with a fearful expectation of judgment? Or are you going to live with a confident expectation of good?

It's my prayer that you would experience the life Jesus has for you — the same quality of life that God experiences, "the zoe life". It's His gift to you, not because you've earned it, but because you are His beloved child. I'm praying for you and trusting that you'll receive your own revelation of this truth in your heart.

Confidently expecting the goodness of God,
Joseph Prince