The Power of Right Believing: 7 Keys to Freedom from Fear, Guilt, and Addiction (36 page)

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
security, identity, and approval in their parents’ love for them and, most of all, in their heavenly 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.

You Are Beloved and Well Pleasing

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Word of God records that as He came out from the waters, “the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ ” (Matt. 3:16–17).

I love the way the Bible describes how the heavens opened to Jesus. I believe that whenever Jesus is preached, the heavens open
to Him. This means that when we hear messages that are all about Jesus, we are really standing under an open heaven and all the blessings, favor, and goodness of God fall upon us.

After Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness, and the devil came to tempt Him saying, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread” (Matt. 4:3).

Many years ago when I was studying this, the Lord opened my eyes and showed me that the devil had subtly left out the word “beloved.” Just moments ago, God the Father had just affirmed Jesus as His
beloved
Son at the Jordan River. However, when the devil came to tempt Jesus, he removed the word “beloved” and simply said, “If You are the Son of God…”

The Lord unveiled to me that if you are reminded that you are the beloved of the Father, you can never be successfully tempted! Even the devil knew this, and that’s why he removed the word “beloved” when he spoke to Jesus. Now that’s a powerful truth!

So every time you are tempted, just remind yourself, “I am God’s beloved child, and my Father loves me.” No temptation can triumph over you when you rest securely in your Father’s love.

I just want to say a quick word to all fathers reading this: it is the father’s approval that will give a child the power to excel. Therefore, when you speak words of approval and affirmation to your children,
you are really empowering them for success. They will meet every temptation head-on and will be victorious in life.

Observe Jesus’ reply. He didn’t have to prove to the devil that He was the Son of God. Secure in His identity as God’s beloved Son, He simply replied, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ ” (Matt. 4:4).

When I was studying this verse, the Lord said this to me: “Study the words that just proceeded from the mouth of God. These are the words that I want My people to live by.”

Do you remember what words the Father just said at the Jordan River? That’s right, He said:

“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

I want to encourage you to personalize this and meditate on it every day! That’s how the Father sees you today. He sees you in Christ, and in Christ you are His precious, beloved child, in whom He is well pleased. Place your hand on your heart and hear your Father in heaven saying these words to you:

“You are My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”

Would you believe that with all your heart today?

If you are struggling to overcome a disorder or addiction, close your eyes and hear your Father saying to you, “You are My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.” Every time you are fearful, every
time you are consumed by worry, anger, or depression, hear your Father saying to you, “You are My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.”

Yes, right in the midst of whatever failures you may be experiencing, you are His beloved child, and He is well pleased with you because you are in Christ.

Keep hearing it and repeating it until you find rest, peace, and joy overflowing in your heart. If you feel like just crying in His presence, cry. He knows what you are going through and He understands—in a way that no one else can—the pain, hurt, suffering, and loss that you are experiencing.

You Are Accepted in the Beloved

But Pastor Prince, I have done nothing to make myself well pleasing to God!

Neither did Jesus. God called Jesus His beloved and said that He was well pleasing
before
He had even performed one miracle or act of service for Him. You see, Jesus is well pleasing to His Father not because of what He has
done
, but because of who He
is
. Did you get that? If not, please read the last sentence again.

Jesus didn’t have to
do
anything or accomplish anything before He was considered beloved and pleasing to the Father. The good news for you and me today is that our Father in heaven has “made us accepted in the Beloved,” and “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:6–7).

This is true for any believer of Jesus. The moment you received Him into your life, God the Father made you accepted in the Beloved.

We know that the word “Beloved” here is in reference to Jesus. So why didn’t God just say “accepted in Jesus Christ”?

That is because God wants you to be conscious that you are now part of the family and you are
beloved
to Him the same way that Jesus is. Furthermore, the word “accepted” in the original Greek is a word far richer in meaning than the English translation can convey. It’s the word
charitoo
, and it means “highly favored.”
¹
This word is used only one other time in the Bible, when angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored [
charitoo
] one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” (Luke 1:28).

So you and I are not just accepted in the Beloved, which is already fantastic, but we are more precisely
highly favored
in the Beloved, Jesus Christ. In fact, the Greek scholar Thayer says that
charitoo
also means we are surrounded by favor.
²
That’s why in my church we like to proclaim and declare that we are
highly favored
,
greatly blessed
, and
deeply loved
. It’s a powerful declaration and an important reminder that you are not alone and left to fend for yourself in life. You have a Father in heaven who loves you, favors you, protects you, and watches over you and all your loved ones.

His Love Makes a Difference

I love this heartfelt praise report I received from Gina, who lives in Maryland. Listen to how she has been transformed by the love of the Father:

Dear Pastor Prince,

I have been a Christian for about thirty-four years. Since discovering your teachings, I feel like I have been released from thirty-four years of being in a prison of Christian legalism, rules, and lists of things I had to do to get God to help and bless me.

Before hearing the unadulterated gospel of grace, I had all but given up on my life as a Christian. Yes, I still believed that I would go to heaven, but just barely. I didn’t even pray anymore because I felt I had so many problems that I would probably not be praying right anyway, so why bother? I hated reading the Bible because to me it was just a reminder of all the things I was doing wrong and all the stuff I had to do if I wanted God’s help.

But now I can’t get enough of God’s Word because I see it as a love letter from God rather than a book of rules that I can’t keep. I also can’t get enough of listening to the sermons that I get from you and feel like I have been given healthy, nourishing food after spending thirty-four years eating junk food. I listen to your sermons over and over again. I find myself spending more time in the Word because it is
FINALLY really and truly GOOD NEWS that I am hearing. I want to know more about who God is for real.

For the first time in my life, my kids, who are in their twenties, are EXCITED about God too. We are all reading
Destined To Reign
and constantly listening to teachings from your ministry. Recently I was thinking about the God whom I now know as my Abba Father, and I felt overwhelmed by His love for me. I started to say, “I love You.” Suddenly I realized there are just no words to adequately convey the love I feel for Him now. Those three little words just don’t cover it. Sometimes I feel like my heart will burst from the love I feel for Him now because I finally believe He feels the same way about me!

Additionally, things that I have been trying to quit for DECADES are now beginning to just fade away as I rest in God knowing He’s going to keep loving me no matter what. Who knew that NOT trying to “be good” would bring about a heart change and then change me on the outside too. I cannot believe all this has been available to me all along.

I am so happy now that I can’t even describe it. Yes, I am still having my share of challenges, but things look so much different when you know that God not only CAN handle it, but He WILL handle it when you just rest and let Him be the Daddy to you that He wants to be.

I cannot thank you enough for your ministry and your obedience to God in bringing this life-changing Word to us, His children. I have been forever changed, and I tell
everybody about the gospel of grace that you preach. God is so wonderful, and I look forward to the next seventy years of my life walking in His grace and sharing it with His people.

Don’t you just love reading about how lives are changed and transformed when they encounter the love of the Father? I love what Gina shared about how she now knows God as her Abba Father. Isn’t it amazing that you could have been a Christian for more than three decades and yet not have had the opportunity to encounter the Father’s love? I am so grateful and humbled that God has given me the honor and privilege of unveiling the Father to this precious lady and her family. I pray that you too will experience what she has experienced. In her letter, she is literally brimming over with love and joy, and it warms my heart greatly to see her family touched by our loving heavenly Father too.

Believe the Father’s love for you. See His grace. Come boldly into His throne room of grace and receive help in your time of need. In her praise report, Gina shared there were things that she had been trying to quit for DECADES but couldn’t. However, the moment she began to find security in our Abba Father’s love for her and had the revelation that God was going to keep loving her no matter what, transformation effortlessly began from within her and those things began to fade away.

When you see and believe the Father’s love shining on you, darkness fades away. Depression fades away. Eating disorders fade away. Suicidal thoughts fade away. Fears fade away. Destructive addictions fade away. The more you place yourself under His grace, the more sin will have no dominion over you. Temptation will have no power over you when you are saturated with the Father’s love, approval, favor, and acceptance. All this freedom can be yours when you truly believe that:

You are His beloved child, in whom He is well pleased.

Here is my prayer for you, my friend. I pray that you will begin to comprehend and believe the width and length and depth and height of your Father’s unconditional love for you. Rest in your Father’s love for you and not on your love for Him. And may you experience victory over every fear, every sense of guilt, and every addiction in your life.

Dear reader, thank you for taking this journey with me in
The Power of Right Believing
. You’ve been a wonderful and attentive travel companion, and I pray that you’ve been blessed by the truths shared in this book.

While there is so much emphasis on right living and right doing today, I trust you are beginning to see that the answer is really found in right believing. If you can change what you believe, you can change your life.