Joseph Prince - Healing And Restoration For Your Mind

TOPICS: Healing, Restoration, Mind, Wisdom

Praise the Lord. This might be the year, amen. This might be the year the Lord comes for us, praise the Lord. Are you ready? Amen, to be forever strong, forever healthy, forever young in that new body. When he comes for us, that's the only thing that's left for us, amen. Of all his promises, it can all come to pass while we are on this side of heaven, but when the rapture happens, when Jesus comes for us, he'll just shout for us, right, midway, and then we will all be transformed into his, like his glorious, resurrected body. Amen. Praise the Lord. Happy New Year, everybody. Happy New Year, happy 2023. As we look at this year, we do not know what the year holds, but we know the one who holds the year. We just have to put our hand in his hand, because he knows everything. He's gone ahead of us, you know. The Bible says time and time again, the Bible uses this phrase, "The Lord has gone ahead of you", the Lord has gone ahead of you.

You know, David one time, he wasn't too sure, he was, running away from King Saul, and, the enemies were coming in to attack some of the ranks of Israel. But then he said this. God says, "Wait. When you see the mulberry bush sway in the wind, the Lord has gone ahead of you. Go. The battle is the Lord's," amen. So, the Lord has gone ahead of you in 2023. He's making all the crooked places straight, all the devices of the enemy, he will care for you and protect you from them all. Amen, there's a beautiful phrase in the Bible that talks about how the Lord cares for us from the beginning of the year to the end.

Now, in the context here, it's talking about God's care for the land of Israel. Of course, God prepared the land for his people, amen. It's a picture of his love and care for his people. Here it says that "A land for which the LORD your God cares". Say, God cares, amen. A land which God cares. "The eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year". From the beginning of the year to the very end of 2023, God's eyes are on you. What was the land to them that God cares for, God cares for you even more, amen. If God cares for the sparrows that fall, not one of them falls without his knowledge, surely God cares for you, every one of you, amen. And his eyes are on you and your families from the beginning of this year to the end of the year, amen.

We only have to realize that we have to realize that God's eyes are not on us to find fault with us, amen. God never finds fault with the believer anymore, praise the Lord, amen. He will lead us and guide us in the areas where we are making mistakes or we are not... we are falling short, he will direct us, he will help us, and we wanted to be helped as well. We don't wanna keep on doing the wrong things, right? But his eye is not on us to find fault, amen. His eyes is on us to bless us, to favor us, to lead us, to guide us, to protect us, to provide for us all throughout this year. Can I have a good amen? And as I was preparing for the message to hear what God wants to say to his people this year to, kick off the year, because it's gonna be the year of yes. You will hear about it next Sunday, the Vision Sunday, the theme of the year.

And I'm so excited, because I got this during my vacation, and, when I received it, I was so excited that I really had to keep myself from telling my family in the first place, amen. But, I just began to see more and more what God is doing. Now, by no means is it a year from the view of the world, it's gonna be a bleak, dismal kind of year because there's so many threats going on, exactly what Jesus said. It all confirms the Word of God and what Jesus said when he says that there'll be plagues. We just saw that happen a few years ago until now. The pandemic, plagues, diseases. And then he talks about famines, famines is recession, amen.

And we are embarking in a year, I'm talking about naturally, not the people of God now, all right, into a year of recession, amen. For the people of God, God provide for you. God will watch over you from the beginning of the year to the end, amen. And then also wars, and there'll be news of wars, rumors of wars, and, Jesus said that. We are seeing that happen. Even yesterday, yesterday's news, if you are watching yesterday's news, you saw that there were some missiles launched by one nation, amen. What a way to celebrate New Year. Firecrackers, I understand. Missile, I don't understand, all right. This is really, you know, all the saber rattling, wars and rumors of wars that Jesus talked about. And then he says, "Then lift up your heads". When you see these things happen, don't be discouraged, Jesus said. "Lift up your heads. Your redemption draws near".

Now, what redemption is it? Because once you are saved, you have been redeemed, amen, by the blood of Jesus. What is that redemption that our Lord is talking about? It's your bodily redemption. It's your bodily redemption. You see, even this side of heaven we know believers, even believers suffer the same fate in the sense physically as non-believers. Yes, we believe God for healing and all that, but we are still not the best where we have a body that will never be sick, never be tired, never grow old, never even feeling bored, amen. The body that Jesus had when he rose from the dead. You see, the redemption of Jesus at the cross redeemed us in all the tripartite nature of man, in all the three parts, spirit, soul, and body. Let me pause here and just say this. You are, let's say, say this after me, okay? It'll help you understand.

Okay, I'm gonna say it first, "I am a spirit, I am not a body. I am a spirit. I live in a body. I am a spirit. If I die, I'll step out of it". No, you say it afterwards, all right? I'll lead you, okay? "I have a soul. My soul is my mind, my emotions, and my will. That is my soul. I have a soul. I am not my soul. I have a soul. I am a spirit. God is a Spirit", amen. Spirit brought forth, God brought forth everything physical. Spirit is greater than physical because physical has a time limit. You know, the chair is physical, all right, the body is physical. Everything that's physical can decay and die, all right, but the spirit lives forever, amen. That's why there's a place that must house the spirit, heaven or hell, because the spirit of man is that part of man that God breathed into man.

When God made his body, it's like a mannequin, lifeless, all right, just a body there. Then God breathed into Adam, and Adam became a living soul. The ultimate thing, if you burn a body, any body, for that matter, all right, it goes back to dust, amen, the very soil that God made man from. I think God combined a part of his being into us, which is noble, which is, the highest, amen, of creation, because that part came from God. God didn't make animals out of his breath, amen. God didn't make, the stars, the sun, the moon out of his breath, but God did it out of himself. He gave a portion of himself to man, which is his spirit. That's why spirit is eternal, amen. But we are more conscious of the physical because we are dead spiritually, but it's the spirit that causes the material to come into pass, amen. So, what are you? You are a spirit. Say, "I am a spirit". Now you can, "I am a spirit. I have a soul. That's my mind, my emotions, and my will. I live in a body. I live in this house called a body".

Now, look around you. Look at all the different houses. Look at all the different, ceilings, amen. I got news for you. You only have one house. Take care of it. Once you check out, you cannot check in again, all right? I know that, here in Singapore we can buy houses, or more than one house. You don't like one house, you can buy another house for some of you, right? But for this, for you, this house matters more than any other house, amen. You live in this house. Take care of it. You only have one house to live in, amen. Let this be the year that you take care of your house. You take care of your house by letting God take care of your house. Can I have a good amen?

So, when God want to redeem man, when Adam first sinned... now, people say, "Well, Pastor Prince, if God is good, why then all the wars and the famines and all"? Don't blame God any more you can blame the Minister of Transport for the accident that happened on the road, amen. If someone does not follow the rules of the road and the traffic, you know, regulations that are there for their safety, you cannot blame the Minister of Transport for the accident, amen. I hope you understand that, and, if you wanna see what God, God's full control on earth is like, go back to Adam before he sinned. Adam lived in perfect Eden, the Bible says, where everything was provided for him. Everything was voluptuous, was big, was numerous in its variety. God made man with different kinds of taste and different kind of fruits, and all kinds of food to cater to his different tastes. God provided everything for him. All he gotta do, and God made him last so that he can enjoy everything that God has made.

That's what life is like when God has full control. No sickness. Adam never visited a hospital, and there's no need for police station. No need for fire station, amen. No need for all these, exigencies of life and all the challenges that came in ever since man fell, man sinned, was not in existence at all. That tells us what life is like when God is fully in control. But then God gave the earth to men, and when God gives, God gives, okay? God doesn't take it back. So, God gave earth to man, and God said to man, who was a free moral agent being, God made him a free moral agent. Whenever you make someone a free choice, you cannot manipulate the free choice. If you are God, you cannot just say, "I'm gonna use my power to just change his free choice," you cannot do that. Because that is not free choice. But every time you give free choice, there is a risk that the person might choose the wrong thing.

Now, while you are free to choose, you're not free to choose the result. The result remains the same. You choose this, this is the result. You choose that, that's the result. You can choose, but you cannot choose the result. Like I said before, I like to say, "Put finger in fire, pain". You cannot choose no pain. Pain follows finger in fire, okay? So, that's the thing. So, God said to man, "Don't sin, 'cause the day you sin, you shall die". We do not know how long Adam lived in Eden, but we know that finally, he did sin. He sinned against God, he believed the devil, the lie of the enemy more than God's Word, who loves him. And the result is sickness came in, decay came in, old age came in, decrepit, you know, people, Adam became decrepit finally, and death came in.

So, God really said, "The day that you sin, on that day you shall die," but Adam lived to 900-over years before he died. Back in those days they lived hundreds of years, and slowly all the way down to our time, hundred, and then below hundred, and give and take, now it's about eighty, the average, and I'm here to tell you that wasn't God's plan. In fact, death is never God's plan. But God told men, "The day you sin, you shall die". But how come Adam lived 900-over years? Did he die? Yeah, he died. He died spiritually. Don't forget, I am a spirit, so the spirit died. That's why Jesus said, "You must be born again". And then Nicodemus, whom Jesus said that to, said, "How can I go back to my mother's womb and be born again"? He's thinking physically. Jesus is thinking your spirit must be born again. So, that part is cut off from God, that part is deadened spiritually, amen.

So, that part is cut off from God. Then the mind began to fall as well. Man began to be forgetful, man, his mind, you don't have, he don't have the full control of his mind. Even the most brilliant mind, scientists tell us he only uses 10% of his mind. So, the potential in the beginning was the full potential. Man is no more in that capacity anymore. Then his body, he begin to have pimples, wrinkles, disease, sickness, growing old, and dying. So, that's not part of God's plan. In fact, the Bible says death is an enemy, just to let you know, okay, so that we will look forward to the rapture. Because the rapture is not redeeming us spiritually but redeeming us physically. Lift up your heads, for your redemptions draws near, amen. Might be this year. I said, might be this year, amen. I'm looking forward.

The Bible says, "No one knows the day nor the hour, but lift up your heads". When you see the signs happening, lift up your heads. Your bodily redemption draws near. Amen, we'll never grow old, we'll never die, we'll never feel sick, never, never experience any sickness, not even boredom anymore. For how long? Forever, amen, because Jesus conquered death. He rose from the dead. This enemy that God hates, death, was conquered by our Lord Jesus Christ at the cross. He left behind an empty tomb, praise the name of Jesus. God redeemed us spirit, soul, and body at the cross. When Jesus hung there on the cross, Jesus redeemed us spiritually. He bore our sins, amen, and we come alive because he took our place. He knew no sin, he did no sin, he never sinned, he was sinless, in him is no sin. But we who have sinned, amen, he took our place at the cross so that we can take his place in righteousness, and today the Bible says once you are born again, you are born righteous, hallelujah. Amen, guys?

Grace means undeserved, unearned favor. Do you know when you are born again, you are born righteous? You are born righteous. In God's eyes you are righteous. That doesn't mean your body has to catch up with who you are. Once you are born again, you believe on Jesus Christ, you say, listen, being a Christian by name doesn't amount to anything anymore than going to a garage makes you a car, okay? So, going to church doesn't make you a Christian. You gotta be born again, yes, you gotta believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and what he did for you at the cross. Now, once you are born again, you are born righteous. Your body might still do some things wrong, your mind might think some things that are wrong and sinful, but your spirit whom God sees is righteous, amen. So, we gotta line up our minds and our bodies to our spirits, and we are learning to do that every day so that we conform to the image of Jesus. Can I have a good amen?

Then the Bible says Christ redeemed us on the cross. Isaiah 53 says, verse 5, "Surely at the cross, not only he carried our sins, he also carried our diseases and our pains". Good news, he carried our diseases and our pains. I said he carried our diseases and our pains. Amen, so we can be healed. You see, we only need healing this side of heaven. When Jesus comes again, we'll need healing no more, why? Because we have a new body that doesn't get sick, so there's no more need for healing. Healing is only for this side in the here and now, amen. So, let's believe God for healing. If you're sick, go to the hospital. Know this, that God wants you well, amen. Go, seek medical advice, whatever it is, but above all, look to the Lord for your healing, amen. If it's a loved one, I will bring that person to the hospital, I will make sure that person get the best medical help, amen. I don't believe for one moment God wants you sick. If he wanted man sick, he would make Adam sick in the beginning before Adam sinned to show his will. So, no, amen. God and doctors and all that are all on the right side, on the side of healing, amen.

The Bible says, "God wished above all things for you that you prosper and be in health, even as your souls prosper". So, Christ redeemed us bodily as well, and the fullness of it will happen when Jesus comes again. We'll have a brand new body. But what about our in-between soul, or mind, emotion? So, one of the things that happened is that while I was preparing for this message, New Year message, I asked the Lord what does he have on his heart for you people? And this is what he said. "I want to heal their minds". So, many of us, we are saved spiritually, I mean, we are born again, and, we believe in healing, amen. Gonna pray for that also at the end of the service. But in-between our minds is something that the Lord, it surprised when he said that, "I want to heal their minds, because in the beginning when I made man, their minds were not forgetful".

But what has happened, he began to show me that many of us, we have accepted our forgetfulness as normal. We hear reports, we watch, you know, around us at other people and all that, and they laugh, and people make jokes about it, you know. People joke, like, this man went up the stairs, and, he turned to his, elderly wife, and he looked up, and then he looked down again, he looked up, and then he says, "Now I do not know whether I am going down or going up," you know. And people joke about that, and, you know, we have moments whereby we enter into a room, and we ask ourself, "Why am I in this room? What did I come here for"? Don't put up your hands. We call this a senior moment, right? But we accept it as normal. People even make jokes about it.

But what the Lord said to me is that it's a curse, it's a curse that came in because of Adam's fall, and Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law on that cross, amen. If you look at Adam before he sinned, if you look at Adam, when God made Adam, God made all the animals, God made Adam last, and God made all the animals and everything else so that man can enjoy whatever he has done. God didn't make him first or on the second day or the third day so that man cannot glory or take part in what God has done. All the glory goes to God. Man is the recipient of his love, the beneficiary of all his blessings, amen. That's the life we are to live. Salvation begins when you receive, not when you do. It's not your doing that saves you, it's receiving the finished work of Jesus, amen. The Old Testament, the old agreement was that you do, and do, and do, but no one can do to the level of what God requires. So, God sent, God knew that, man doesn't know that, so God sent his Son. He died for us, and now salvation begins with D-O-N-E, done, amen. We rest in the finished work, can I have a good amen?

So, at the cross Christ redeemed us from, spiritual death, that's our spirit. Christ redeemed us from disease and sickness, that's our body. And you find all these curses listed in Deuteronomy 28. Then Christ redeemed us in our souls, and that is our mind. It's the mind that gets depressed, it's the mind that gets forgetful, it's the mind. So, does God just bypass, you know, your spirit? God bypass your mind for your spirit and then for your body and ignore the mind part? No, God made man tripartite. See, God is one God, but God is triunity, right? Three divine persons, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one. You cannot, you don't say three Gods, you say one God, amen. Even the Hebrew language, it says, "The Lord our God is one Lord," in the Hebrew, "The Lord our God," Elohim, "The Lord, our," Elohim. Elohim is plural, but then one God is echad. Echad is not singular unit, echad is collective unit. We are all here as one. That means that it's a plural word, echad is one, the Lord our God is one.

Never mind. If you don't understand that Hebrew and all that, it's okay, amen. But remember when God said, "Let us make man"? These words you will find in your King James Bible, "Let us make man," "Let us make man". So, the divine person is involved. The Father planned, the Son executes, the Holy Spirit comes and manifested, amen. So, triunity, the three divine persons in one God, amen. Our one God, we don't say three Gods, okay? Always remember that. It's a divine mystery. So, God made man in his image. We are tripartite, amen. If one part suffers, we suffer. If your mind is restless, the body says, "All right, produce disease, produce sickness". And doctors will say, like, stress can cause sickness in your body, amen. Your spirit's not at rest, it can affect your mind. Your mind can affect your body. You cannot say that, you know, this part is this part and that part is that part. It's all co-related. It is all symbiotic, okay?

And, so when God made you in his image, you are tripartite, amen? Smile at your neighbor and tell them, tripartite. Say, I've become intelligent in the very first day of 2023 already. Okay, so watch this. The Lord said to me he wants to heal your mind. First of all, you must acknowledge this is not normal. You keep on hearing, watching the news, you keep on hearing, the news, you keep on looking at man's report, okay, you will accept that condition. But don't say things like, "I'm getting old, I'm being forgetful".

The other day I woke up early, and, you know, when you just woke up, usually your mind go in different directions, right? So, my direction was all of a sudden an old friend, an old person came to my mind, someone that, quite some time ago. And I said, "What is his name? I know his name". But it just didn't come to me. Then I told myself, "I'm not going back to sleep until I know his name". You ever had that? You know, you ever had that? All right, it's like it's a slip of my tongue, you know, but what is his name? So, I struggled, and struggled, and the name never came. But I didn't accept I'm getting old. All right, I said, "I have the mind of Christ". And that phrase, by the way, is in the New Testament, "I have the mind of Christ". Paul says, "We have the mind of the Lord," we have the mind of Christ. "I have the mind of Christ and I know his name". And like this, pop, it came out, his name, amen.

So, listen, doesn't always happen that fast. But if you will learn to accept, instead of saying, "I am forgetful," speak God's Word. "I have the mind of Christ," amen, and the mind of Christ never forgets, amen. It may not come immediately, but it will come, it will manifest. The more you say it, the more you... see, it is not so much you. It's you are just, releasing faith. It is God's Word. But we appropriate God's promises through faith, and faith is released like this. Believe in your heart, speak with your mouth. Believe in your heart, speak with your mouth. We are made in God's image. "In the beginning," the Bible says, "God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God said, 'Light.'"

Notice, God saw darkness at first, but God didn't say: "Wow! So dark"! It would become darker. Notice, God saw darkness, and what did God say? "Light, be," and there was light, and God saw the light, that it was good. Now, listen. We are made in God's image, all right? We are supposed to operate by faith, but because of man's fall, they want to go everything by sight. They want to go by everything, actually a lot of things that's real, you can't even see it in the spirit realm, whereas now we think that the physical realm is more real, where we can see that it gets old, it gets decrepit, it gets broken down, there's expiry date, but what is of the spirit never grows old, never dies. That's why the part of man that's spirit has to be housed eventually after the body decays in heaven or in hell, amen.

God so loved the world, God gave his Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish in hell, but have everlasting life, amen. Thank God for that, praise the Lord. So, we are redeemed even in our minds. So, start confessing, "I have the mind of Christ," amen? Amen. The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus himself said this in John 10:10. Jesus said, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly". May have it more abundantly, abundant life. Oh, that sounds so good on my mouth, "Life more abundant," say it. Life more abundant. Jesus says, "I come". Why do you come, Lord Jesus? Christmas message, right? He came. "Why do you come"? "I come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly," amen. Doesn't mean people who have plenty of money have abundant life. Many of them are crying on the inside, many of them are full of fears and worries. That's not abundant life.

But notice there's a thief. The thief Jesus mentioned does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. Notice that before he can kill and destroy, anything that steals from you is not God stealing from you, it's the devil. All right, there is a devil, there is a devil, I'll tell you that. Okay, today we have fanciful words for the devil, people don't talk about devil anymore, all right. It is actually, the devil's, victory in a sense to have people think he doesn't exist. I remember praying for a lady who was demon possessed, a lady, and a man's voice spoke out. At first I was talking to her, she spoke to me in a feminine voice, okay, but when I used the name of Jesus, a man's voice spoke out of her throat.

So, after for a while Pastor Henry was there, and I was in the next door praying. Immediately when I heard the man's voice, I ran next door, I told Pastor Henry, "You take care of it, I need to pray". In my younger years I watched a movie called "The Exorcist," and never changed, you know, I didn't want anything to happen to me. What I did not know is that that movie did not show that at the name of Jesus, every knee bows, amen. When Jesus was on earth, even the demons begged him not to cast them out. They begged him not to send them into hell, actually, before the time. "Are you come to torment us before the time"? They know they are going, there's a time coming, they are going into hell, they know that. But they are still on earth, disembodied spirits. That's another message altogether. And they cause depression, they cause oppression, they cause sickness, and, you know, the Chinese have a saying, they say, "Oh, this pain come on the body, hong," the wind, the wind.

It's very interesting that in the Greek and Greek is the New Testament, it's written in Greek, Hebrew is in the Old Testament, written in Hebrew. In Hebrew it is ruach, wind. In, Greek it is pneuma, pneumatic drill, powered by wind. Wind is the word for spirit, all right? Pneuma or ruach, okay, in Hebrew, ruach, all right, spirit. So, evil spirit, evil breath, it's like a wind. Holy Spirit is also like a wind, and many-a-times you'll feel it, even in our church, you can feel the wind, feel it during time of healing. The wind comes and the pain goes, amen. The grove is no more, amen. It is not by might, it is not by power, it's by the Spirit of the Lord. It can happen even during this time when I'm preaching, praise the Lord, 'cause God loves to heal. God loves to restore you, amen. The Bible says when Jesus was on earth, how he, you know, the Bible says how God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit, amen, the breath of God, Holy Spirit, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, amen.

So, sickness is not of God, it is of the devil. Jesus went about healing all that were oppressed of the devil, amen. So, devil come to steal, kill, and destroy, but before he can kill, and before he can destroy, what does he do? He steal. What does he steal? What do you think the devil wants to steal? Now, imagine if you're a thief. Okay, cannot imagine you're a thief, okay. When a thief breaks into a house, what is the thing that he looks for? All right, I know, nowadays you got professional thieves, digital thieves, and when they steal, they can siphon off millions and millions of dollars from one island. And now people are at a loss to know, where are they, right? So, but I'm talking about, naturally speaking, a thief. All thieves, what are they out for? To steal. To steal.

So, imagine a thief, okay, coming to a house, what does he go for? "Hey," two thieves, huh? "Look at that. Stacks and stacks of toilet roll. You remember last time? We all used to fight in the supermarket for toilet roll. Maybe another variant might come in and, you know, we might have to stay at home. Toilet roll. Get it". That's what the thief, toilet roll. Do you think they go for toilet roll? No, they go for small items. Toilet roll is too big. What are the small items? Diamonds, jewelry, mm? And nowadays they're quite sophisticated, you know. "No, this is zirconia. These aren't diamond, isn't diamond. These are only, this bag is fake, fake, fake. This one is the real bag". They go for the valuable items. What do you think the devil wants to steal from you? Well, Jesus answered that.

Look at this in, Matthew 13. "Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word," so before the devil can kill and destroy, he has to steal, he has to steal. He has to steal the Word from you. "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom," Jesus is talking here, "and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside". All right, so Jesus shares a parable of the sower and the seed, about the different kind of response to God's Word. Like right, even right now I'm speaking to, perhaps four different types of soil. There are four different responses to God's Word. But Jesus said how the devil comes and steal is when this happens. "They hear the word, and they do not understand it".

When you don't understand the Word, you hear it. It's not that you don't hear it, it's not that you don't come to church. You do go to church on Sunday, on January the 1st, amen, on Easter, Chinese New Year maybe, and on your birthday. It's not that they don't come to church. They do come to hear the Word, amen. Hey, you know what, any time you go to church, I'm glad, amen. You're in a place where you can hear the Word, that's half the miracle. The devil doesn't want you at all in church. They'll try to make the church a place where people down there are boring, amen, the people... have you seen Pastor Mark? There's no way he's boring, amen. The people down there, you know, it's like, oh, do's and don'ts, lie, you know, that kind of thing.

I'm telling you, the Bible is more advanced than you can know, than you can think, amen. The devil wants you out there because as long as you are watching Netflix and, you know, all those other things, and sports, and things like that, he knows that those things cannot rescue you from the attack and his assaults on you in 2023. He knows that. He knows that, all right, supporting, you know, shopping for the greatest GOAT, all right, the greatest of all time, whatever it is, whatever it is, in the entertainment arena, in golf, or in, sports, soccer or whatever, you know, he knows. And does that mean that we don't enjoy these things? We enjoy these things, but don't prioritize them above the Word, amen. Whatever you do, hold on to God's Word. It is what produces the blessings and the miracles and the breakthroughs and the healings that you and I need.

You'd be amazed how much the Word of God has been robbed from your mind. Maybe you became a believer when you were a young child, but right now it's been robbed. It's not normal. The devil has robbed you. Before he can touch your body, he has to take away the word of healing from your head. He knows as long as the Word is there, even a small seed... have you seen a small, tree growing out of a pavement? Have you seen? It breaks the cement, it breaks the pavement and goes up. A small seed has that power. Someone dropped the seed, maybe he was eating some fruit and he spit it up, went into the cracks, it started germinating, sprouting, and it started growing enough to break open concrete. One little seed, the devil must come quick before it germinates. The devil must come quick before it sprouts. He must come quick before it breaks through his concrete. My advice, don't just come for germination in the beginning of the year. Be here till the end of the year, amen. Keep on hearing the Word, the Word.

See, we're not here to be religious. We are here to be spiritual, okay? We are not here to learn laws, we are here to come under grace where we see him, and we allow him to love us and to do great things for us, amen, and that is the greatest humility, to allow God to provide for you and not say, "No, no, no, I can do this myself, I can do this, I can help myself, I can heal myself, I can sponsor myself, I can provide for myself, I can overcome this bondage by myself". Like, people who are smoking, "I can stop any time I want to, yes". Never see them stop, all right? We are so proud in that we think we can when God is trying to bring us in that lesson to say, "You cannot. You need me". This year, depend on God more than ever. No one is as strong as the one who puts his trust in the Lord. It's people who are weak that try to depend on themselves, amen.

So, the devil comes to steal the Word, but why? Why is he able to steal the Word? Because the person who hears the Word does not understand it. Now, your New Testament is in Greek, all right? All the English versions come from the Greek. It was originally written in Greek. Your Old Testament, like the stories of David and all that, is in Hebrew. Old Testament Hebrew, New Testament, what? Greek. Okay, you got it? This is New Testament, Jesus speaking, and it's in Greek. And in Greek, I want you to remember this word. In Greek, the word understand is the word suniemi. Say "suniemi". Sounds like tsunami, all right? You can remember that, suniemi.

Now, suniemi means, sun means together, niemi means, it's a wisdom that comes from God that other people can see, and they don't see it. But you look at it, you see what they don't see. You put two and two together. Sun means together. You are able to put two and two together and see what God wants you to see. It is from God. You hear the Word, and you meditate on it until you see the suniemi in 2023, and then you have victory. Amen. That's suniemi. Suniemi is putting two and two together, very interesting. Now, look at the four soils. Jesus mentioned four soils, right? Another day I'll teach on it, but look at the good soil that produces a harvest of thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold. Look at this good soil, drop down. Jesus says, "He who receives seed," the Word of God, "on the good ground," in his hut, "is he who hears the word and understands it," and, again, is the word suniemi, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. You see that? Amen.

So, we want to understand God's Word. Make this year a year that you understand the Word of God. Reading a novel, reading a book, reading a journal, all that is good, fanciful, nice, and makes you feel good for a while. Nothing wrong with that, that can also destress you to a certain extent, but they cannot help you the way the Word of God can help you, because the Word of God has God's own substance in it, amen. So, in the same chapter, notice what Jesus said about people that refuse to hear God's Word or see God's Word. "The hearts of these people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed". Note, God didn't close their eyes, they closed their eyes. So, God's Word comes, right now it comes through your ear gate, amen.

Some of you, it also goes through your eye gate. Some of your eyes are closed because you are meditating on the Word of God right now as I am speaking. You've been meditating for quite some time already, and your gate, see, another gate is open as you are meditating, your eyes closed. You see, all those in the front row, right, my pastors, especially Pastor Lawrence. I've seen him before, you know. He's so polite that he'll never yawn when I'm preaching. All right, he does yawn, but he doesn't yawn openly, like, bwah, like Pastor Mark. When Pastor Lawrence yawns, right, he look at me, right, and all of a sudden, right, his eyes become really big. Then his nostrils flare. One time I looked at him and said, "Bro, you just yawned". His eyes began to water. He's too polite to yawn openly, amen, but there are people who yawn just open wide. All are welcome.

So, the Word of God enters through your eye gate, see God's Word, here God's Word, and notice they close their eyes purposely. "Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them". Lest they should understand. The word understand, guess what? Is the word suniemi. Lest they understand. You see, the more you hear God's Word, the more you see God's Word, it will drop into your heart. That's when God gives you the understanding. You say, "I see it". I want you all to be, this year, 2023, to be revelation junkies. You want revelation from God's Word. "I see it, mmm". You know, David says it's more to be desired than gold, than fine gold. "Happy is the man who finds wisdom," the Bible says, amen. Happy is the man who finds wisdom.

Now, notice that what Jesus said would happen. If you really understand, suniemi, God's Word, and suniemi comes from God, and we're gonna ask God to give it to you this year. If you really understand God's Word, it says "Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them". Look at the way he said it, "So that I should heal them". It's almost like there's a divine necessity. "If you fulfill the conditions, if you see my Word, you hear my Word, it drops into your heart, and you understand it, I should heal you. I cannot but heal you". Hmph. Interesting. But people, you know, it's not like people want healing like this. "Pastor, pray for me. Here's my head, there's your hand, touch it". It doesn't always work like that, amen. I am not the healer. I have told you before, I just obey God, and God has said, "Lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover". Sometimes God allow that means, but sometimes God wants, the norm is that we receive from his Word, amen, by revelation. So, if they understand, I should heal them.

Now, isn't it interesting in the Old Testament in the book of Proverbs, written by the wisest man, King Solomon, whom God gave him wisdom, he said this about the same procedures. Look at what he says. "My son," God is talking to you, "Give attention" to the football channel. That's very bad, Pastor Prince. Okay, I love football, okay, I love football, I love football. I even watched Singapore play Vietnam just two days ago, amen. Why Singapore don't win, I don't know, okay, all I know is that I do watch football, and I like football, amen. Just let you know, even my son sang the World Cup song last week in the second service, right? You heard, I mean, we love football. We are a family that loves football. Even my wife loves football. She said that when she hear football, she can sleep. The sound of the crowd, the sound of, you know, she grew up listening to football, okay, so don't misunderstand me.

But you don't make it an idol, you don't prioritize it, you don't give attention to it to the point that you neglect God's Word. You cannot come to church because, "Last night, football". You know, give attention to, what? To my words. That's priority. Then it says this. "Incline your ear," now your ear gate, "to my sayings. Do not let them depart," from where? "Your eyes". Then what happens? "Keep them in the midst of your heart". Notice the same procedure, right? It's through your eye gate, it's through your ear gate. How do you see God's Word? Doesn't mean that you take the Bible, all right, and you go through, Orchid Road like this and bump into everyone and lampposts and all that. Of course not. It means, what? In your mind, you visualize, you imagine when God's Word says that you are a tree planted by the rivers of water, you see yourself like that. Whatever he does prospers, you see yourself like that. When the World is saying that you're getting older, you see yourself green.

The Bible says, "They shall bear fruit in old age. They shall be green and full of sap". You see God's Word, you see God's Word, you believe God's Word until it drops in your heart. You see? Keep that in the midst of your head, it will drop into your heart. "For they," God's Word, "are," what? "They are life unto those who find them," not for everyone, "for those who find them, those who receive," through your eye gate, ear gate, dropping to the heart, "They are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh". God's Word is health. You like tomatoes? God's Word is health from the top of my head to my toes. Oh, so, "Pastor Prince, that's horrible. You're so punny". So, all your flesh means all your flesh, all the way from your brain, your hair, your head, your eyes, your heart, your pancreas. I think It's somewhere here. Ah, your liver, your stomach, your intestines, your prostate. I'll stop pointing.

All right, and all the way down, your knees, amen, your shoulders, your knees, head, shoulders, knees, head, shoulders, knees. All your flesh means all. I didn't say it. God's Word says it. There's no medicine, and there's no medicine that gives you all your flesh. There's many that promises a lot of things. Later on you hear about... how many, you know, in America when I'm in the car and all that, I will hear an advertisement, "On this product, blah, blah, blah," then the caveat, disclaimer, real fast. But at least technically they have said it. You can't hear it, it's your problem. There's a lot of contraindications that happens when you mix certain things and all that. God's Word, you can take as much as you want. They are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh.

So, keep on receiving God's Word. You can watch Netflix. But remember the word net is there. Don't be caught by it, that's all, amen. It's okay, I understand that. Don't allow the values of the world become your values. If you are depressed and you think this is normal, don't accept people who say it's okay not to be okay. If you are depressed, all right, it's okay for them to say that, huh? They are not depressed. But I'm telling you, God wants you free from depression. There's a place where you can have peace in your mind and tranquility in your heart. God loves you, he wants you to have that. So, easy to go, some would say, "It's okay, accept your condition. Don't look for relief, don't look for", no, no, no. I understand, people in depression, you must never condemn them, never. It's not wrong to be depressed, but to think that it's a normal state and forever you're in that state and for people saying it's okay, no, no. Easy for you to say. God wants the best for that person. God wants that person set free. Can I have a good amen?

So, in God's house you hear God's Word, you see God's Word. Yes, at home you can also, but there's so many distractions. So, make sure at least you have that Sunday. Start the year right, my friends, amen. So, here it says, "They are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh". Now, wisdom is what God wants you to have right from the beginning of the year. Maybe this can also be one of your three requests that we'll pray for at the end of the service, okay? You all came with your three requests? All right, so the Bible says wisdom is the principal thing.

Now, you're thinking that "Well, Pastor Prince, I would have, you know, I got quite... how to say this? Quite high IQ, lah, you know. I don't wanna brag, I just, very high, lah. Super-high, you know"? Well, wisdom has got nothing to do with IQ, nothing to do with IQ, amen. I have seen doctors smoking. Now, he's got intelligence, he's got knowledge, he's got the education, has no wisdom. All right, there are people who messed up their marriage, and they're professors, all right? They are scientists, all right, who have no good relationship with their children. They just mess it up every time their kids are with them, they say the wrong, and there's no wisdom. Wisdom comes from the Lord. And what happened when man finds wisdom of God? Here's what happens. "Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding; her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, her gain than fine gold," all the things you look for today.

You know, I promise you this, the stock market, the crypto market, this market, that market, whatever it is, the Bible promises more when you receive wisdom, and this is the Word of God. And she's more precious than rubies. Now you see, wisdom is personified as a woman. "And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. Length of days," the first thing she gives you, "Length of days is in her right hand". How many agree, right hand is the hand of priority? Would you say that? Your right hand, hand of priority, right? So, priority number one to God is not riches, it's not fame, it's not honor. It is, what? Health, amen. What's the point if you are the richest man in the world, but you are dying, right? So, health is number one. In our right hand. Notice that, length of days, longevity, is in a right hand, all right? Then in her left hand are riches and honor.

So, blessing number two is riches. Number three, honor in her left hand. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness," there's a pleasantness. Doesn't mean that things are not, you know, there'll be a lot of things going wrong, there'll be a lot of, adversities and challenges that we'll be faced with this year, but somehow it's like it's very hard to be too sorrowful, because like a buoy in the water, there is a joy and there's a peace, a pleasantness that lifts you up. That's what Jesus gives you in the midst of the adversity in the year 2023, amen. You will be buoyed up, amen. You'll be raised up above your sorrows, the joy of the Lord. Happiness depends on happening that happened to happen the way you wanted it to happen. Then you are happy. There's the Old English word for H-A-P, hap. But joy doesn't depend on happiness, on happenings. Paul was in the prison being bound with chains, and he was singing, amen. There's the joy of the Lord, praise the Lord. And all the people said, amen.

So, watch this, all right, length of days, that's health. Riches, two. Three is honor. Four is pleasantness. "And all her paths are shalom," in Hebrew, peace. All her paths are peace. And peace is also well-being, wholeness, amen. It's like completeness, amen. Once again, what does wisdom give you? Length of days, health, length of days, riches, honor, pleasantness, peace. So, she's personified as a woman. You embrace her, both her hands support you. Go for wisdom. Go for wisdom. Ask God for wisdom. Such was Solomon. When his father, David, the one who killed Goliath, who became king later on, he died. Solomon, his son, ascended the throne. And he said to God, you know, one night he had a dream, and he was in a place called Gibeon, where the tabernacle of Moses was. And he had a dream that night, and the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and God says, "Ask what I shall give you". He says, "God, I don't ask for much. I just ask for four numbers. Let them all come out this week, just four numbers and no more, right"?

I've said before, if you ask for numbers, actually, what you after for the four numbers? Money. Why do you want the money? "Uh, money will give me more vacations, I can, stop work". Why do you want all that? "So that I can rest, so that I can travel, so that I can have quality of life, so that I can have peace in my later years". What if God says, "I can help you bypass Go. No need to collect $200. From here I take you straight to length of days, health, riches, honor, peace". How about that? So, anyway, come back to Solomon. He didn't ask for phone numbers. He asked God for this. It says, "'Therefore gift Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?' And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing".

So, God was very pleased. You ask God for wisdom today, you will please the same God. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, amen. He asked God for wisdom, and what did God answer him? "God said to him: 'Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, you have not asked riches for yourself'", actually, wisdom brings all these things, right? But he didn't ask for all these things, "'But you have asked the life...nor did you ask for the life of your enemies, but you have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any after you arise anyone like you,'" okay? "'And I've also given you what you have not asked,'" watch this. "'I have given you what you have not asked.'" He asked God for wisdom, God gave him, what? "'I have given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor.'"

What is that? The left hand, right? You ask God for wisdom, you get everything. But for Solomon, he asked God for wisdom, God says, "I have given you what you have not asked: riches and honor". That's the left hand, but what about the right hand? Health, length of days. God says, "'If you walk in all My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments,'" by the way, that riches and honor is like, "'There shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.'" Until today he is the richest man that ever lived. Yes, he's richer than Elon Musk, all right? Considering inflation and all that, you will find that he is a trillion-trillionaire over. And God says, "'If you walk in My ways to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.'"

However, if you study the life of Solomon, he didn't live long. He died young. Now, I'll tell you this. Later on he turned away from God. That tells us wisdom is not an it, it is a he. As you come to the Lord, you spend more time with him, you're spending more time with wisdom. Wisdom is a person, amen. Later on he left the Lord. Notice what God said, all right? "I gave you the left hand, riches and honor, but for the right hand you must keep my commandments". Back then they were under the law, they were under the Ten Commandments. But we are under grace. Jesus fulfilled it all for us. It's like Jesus took your exam and gave you an A+. Jesus took your exam, gave you the A+, all right? That is a very simple way of trying to tell you that Jesus did it all and gave it to you.

So, Jesus is known as the Son of my right hand. So, you and I today have the right hand, the blessing, amen. Jesus is the Son of the right hand, hallelujah, so we have both, amen. And then the Bible says, "Solomon awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD". I want to tell you something. This is one result that you know you'll receive wisdom, how? He was sleeping. All this transaction happened while he was sleeping. He asked God for the wisdom, he woke, he woke up. Now, he was in the place called Mount Gideon. It is still there in Israel today. And Mount Gideon is where the tabernacle of Moses is, the structure, the trappings of religion, okay? But no ark of the covenant. The ark is the picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. The oblong box, all right, overlaid with gold. Gold speaks of Jesus' deity, he is God. The wood inside speaks of Jesus' humanity, amen. Covered with a lid, God's mercy seat, that's the work of Jesus at the cross, because there the blood is placed, and then God forgives the people.

So, it's a picture of Jesus Christ. Notice that where he was, there was a structure, outward structure, the outward trappings of religion, we can call it that way. But it's this, when you have wisdom, it's that... I'm not after religion, I'm after reality. I'm after Jesus, amen. He woke up, and he cherished the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Wise men still seek him, amen. Praise the Lord. That's the first thing that happened when he received wisdom, amen. Now, let's look at this prayer. What did he pray? He prayed, "Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart," and in the Hebrew it is a hearing heart. In the Greek, there is a Greek version of the Old Testament, just to let you know, it's called the Septuagint. If you read the Greek, the Greek says cardia, cardia means heart, akouo, akouo means listen. Again, same thing as Hebrew, amen, a heart that hears. All right, "That I may discern between good and evil".

Now, in the Septuagint, in the Greek version of this portion, you know what discern is? Suniemi. This boy, before he received wisdom, he asked God for suniemi, that branch of wisdom to discern between good and evil. Like I said, people can see the thing, but they can't discern it. Somethings sound good, look good, taste good, promise good, no good. Yeah, some contracts come like that. Some offers come like that. Many of them come like that. They won't tell you the other side. Some guys will come to you, very charming, oozing charm, you know, look like, body like Pastor Lawrence, funny like Pastor Mark, makes you laugh and all that, he charms you and all that, but something inside your spirit, he cannot stop that from flowing, the suniemi. You cannot put two and two together. God gives you that inward wisdom to know, something wrong with this guy. Later on you found out he is a scammer. He has conned many, many other ladies, amen. Not Pastor Lawrence, not Pastor Mark, amen. So, you know, many-a-times you can't tell by your eyes and your ears, you tell by your spirit. Discern, it's called discernment, say discernment. All right, praise the Lord.

Now, can I say something? Back in the time of Adam, Adam named all the animals, right? Coming back to the memory part that God wants you all to have. I wanna pray for you all to have that. If you all don't want when I pray, afterwards, right, don't raise your hand, don't receive. God will not force you to receive. Every gift of God is received. He needs your consent. Even being saved, if Jesus died on the cross for all our sins, how come the whole worlds is not saved? 'Cause not everyone wants it. Not everyone believes it. And God cannot save you beyond your consent. Actually, in a way we are coming every Sunday, we are showing God, we consent to be loved. We consent to be healed. "Lord, I consent to be blessed in 2023," amen.

But think about it. He didn't have a smartphone. And there are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of species of animals in the world. God brought them all to him, he could name them one by one, one by one he named them. Whatever he named them, there was a name, then come back to the first one, he didn't say, "Oh...You sound a bit like... Marco". Pastor Mark and I everywhere... sorry, Mark. It's like, you know, it's not like that. He's able to remember all the names back and forth, he can remember them. That was the magnificence of man's mind in the beginning before he fell. Jesus when he was growing up, all right, didn't have a Bible. Does that shock you? And by the way, if you said, "Pastor, Jesus is God, what, in human flesh," yeah, but he grew up as a man. Listen carefully, he is God, blessed be the eternal truth forevermore, amen, he is God. But when he came, he came and became a man.

All right, he didn't function as a God, you understand that? He came to be the prototype. As Adam was the prototype of the first man, the first man is a prototype of man, Jesus came to be the second Adam, another prototype of a human race called New Creation. So, he grew in wisdom, and when he was 12 years old, he was in the temple, and the Pharisees and the scribes and the doctors of the law were the surrounding this young 12 year old boy, and the Bible said they were astounded at his understanding and answers. And then his mother and father came, said, "Let's go". And he went with them. Let's follow the story. "He went down with them and came to Nazareth, was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased".

See, God doesn't increase, but man increases, so as a man he increased in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and men. So, all the Bible knowledge he had in his hometown, Nazareth, every Shabbat, every Sabbath day they would all as a community go to the local church, like, their local synagogue. And the only one that had the scroll, the Bible, only the Old Testament, was the synagogue. The synagogue had the whole scroll, but houses don't have the scroll. It was too expensive for them to have, all right? So, imagine, every Sabbath Jesus is listening and listening. All that he learned, amen, and he memorized and stored is just by hearing. He didn't have, like Adam, a smartphone to record down. Then later when he grew up at 30 years old, he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness.

Like Adam, the first man, was tempted when everything was good around him, everything was luscious and beautiful, everything was brilliant for man, everything was saying, "It's for you, your benefit," yet he sinned. Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, like, a desert place. And when everything outside seems to say, "Everything is against you," yet he obeyed, the second man obeyed, amen. Now, watch. The devil came. "If you are the Son of God, turn these stones to bread". Jesus says, "It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God". There was no hesitation, nothing. He knew the Word of God.

Now, imagine some of us, the devil come. "You know, if you are a Christian, you are a new creation. Do this or do that, all right, do this". And then you say, "It is written, something like this, devil. You do not always live on bread. Sometimes you must eat rice. Or something like that, lah". I mean, Jesus quoted word for word, amen. His mind is amazing, and the Bible says that today he gives us his mind. Confess, I have the mind of Christ. Paul also lived during a time that there's no recording and there's no, like, emails, or no planner to jot down, all right, to remind you, and there's no smartphones, right? Yet he prophesied over Timothy some prophecies, and many years after that he reminded Timothy. He says to Timothy, he says to Timothy, "This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare".

Remember the prophecies I spoke to you when I laid my hands on you. Remind yourself constantly of the prophecies, amen, that by these prophecies, you will fight a good warfare against the devil, amen. Can you imagine then Paul received another email from a distance? "Can you tell me again the prophecies? Because I forgot, lah". You can't imagine that, right? Those, in that time, they were amazing. Such simple sentence, but when you meditate on it, you think to yourself they had amazing memories. And then we try to memorize by reading, you know, or listening to courses on memory and all that. And they say that to memorize things, all right, memorize people's names and all that, make it as absurd as possible. Actually, I don't want to introduce myself to you. You probably make me as absurd as possible to help remember, right?

That's how you remember things, make things as absurd as possible so it can help you remember. Can you imagine that approach to God's Word? You memorize God's Word and make it as absurd as possible so you can remember? No, this is, again, the natural way. I'm not knocking it, I'm just saying it's the natural way, not God's way. "What is God's way, Pastor Prince"? Meditate. Meditate on God's Word. Take a verse, chew on it the whole day, amen. As you drive to work, chew on it, chew on it. They are life to those who find them, mm. Health to all, yes, from top to my toes. I just made it absurd, didn't I? And you memorize. No evil shall befall you. With long life will I satisfy you. Happy is the man who finds wisdom. Let your friends all run the rat race. You win the race, number one rat. Don't get into the rat race. Let God bring you to where he wants you to be, and his supply will be there, the favor will be there. And best of all, you come smelling good, looking good, no stress. That is God's way, amen. Let this be the year, 2023. Let this be the year, amen. Can I pray for your minds afterwards?

Let me bring this to a close, okay. Now, remember a slave boy called Joseph? Very nice name. He was in prison, and Pharaoh, the king, had a dream. You see, people of the world can have dreams from God, but they cannot interpret, there's no suniemi. The suniemi belongs to God's people when they ask God. That happened to Daniel also with King Nebuchadnezzar. But Joseph was in prison, forgotten for some time, and then Pharaoh had a dream, and his dream was very interesting. He had two sets of dreams in the same night. He dreamt that there was seven cows that were fine-looking and fat, and then the seven cows was grazing. Then came another seven ugly thin, it says gaunt in my Bible, gaunt, thin and gaunt cows, and the seven, skinny, gaunt cows ate the fat cows, but they still looked the same.

Later on Joseph will interpret seven years of plenty is coming, amen, with seven years of famine. And the seven years of famine will be such that all the years of plenty is forgotten. That's why the cows looked the same. I find it very interesting, and this is my own revelation, please don't take it. It's my own revelation. Very interesting that when God calls the seven years of plenty, he calls them cows, fine-looking and fat. But when he talks about years of famine, it's ugly and thin. Today the world says, "Thin is good, fat no good". Wait, it's just a joke, okay? Hey, I'm just joking, all right? Don't get angry, and please don't write to me, okay? I'm just joking. Now, now, now I'm Joe Prince. Just now, just Joe King. "Pastor, you're so punny. Pun. It's so painful, Pastor". I know. That's why he took all our pains. "Stop it"!

Okay. I'm bringing this to a close. Listen. So, the king had this dream, Pharaoh had a dream, and no one could interpret. All the wise men, all the astrologists in his domain could not interpret. And then when the Butler was there, say, "I remember, oh man". He said, "I remember two years ago, I had a dream, and, this young man, this Hebrew man interpreted, and it all came to pass". The king says, "Bring him here". So, Joseph came before Pharaoh, Pharaoh shared about fat and thin, all right, and also the stalks of grain, also the same full plum in the head in the grain, and this one is skinny and withered. Again, the skinny one at the grain. It doesn't make logic because dreams is dreams, but it's the meaning behind them. And Joseph interpreted, "There'll be seven years of plenty coming, king, but I advise you, find a man who is discerning and wise you can appoint over this matter. Set aside during the years of plenty 20%, amen". And that made Pharaoh and Egypt very rich when the seven years of famine came.

So, let's follow the story. We'll close with this. "And the dream was repeated to Pharaoh twice because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. 'Now therefore, let Pharaoh'", Joseph is talking, "'Pharaoh, select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.'" He was probably recommending himself. "If I raise money", the way he does it, he can recommend without appearing like he's recommending. That's wisdom. Like, Ruth, Ruth proposed to Boaz without proposing to Boaz, but she proposed to Boaz. Boaz never knew what hit him, all right? That's wisdom. So, "Let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man".

Now, look at this. The word discerning is the word, in Hebrew, this is Old Testament, Hebrew is bin, where you get the word binna, and wife is chakam. Many of you know the word chokmah, chakam, that's wise. But don't forget, there's also a Greek version of the Old Testament that's not often used called Septuagint. In the Septuagint it's phronimos, and wise is guess what, guess what? Suniemi. It's actually sunitos, the adjective here, but sunitos is from the verb suniemi. It's the word suniemi. Select a man whom God has given wisdom, not just a natural talent, not somebody who graduated from Egypt University. Find someone that you see is discerning and wise, because all those in the university graduates and all that, none of them could interpret Pharaoh's dream, but this slave who has wisdom from God is able to, amen.

Look at Pharaoh's response. Pharaoh says, "So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, 'Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?' Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise,'" same words, "'as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.'" From the pit to the prison to the palace, wisdom will bring you up, amen. I'm gonna pray for you that God's gonna heal your mind, amen, and give you a sense of his love. The greatest wisdom is to know that you are loved and loved by the one who gave his life for you, who came for you.

You know, in Song of Songs it says that the bride say to the bridegroom, I love this, it's a picture of us all talking to our bridegroom, our Lord Jesus, because the Bible likens our relationship like bridegroom and bride. Not even husband and wife, bridegroom and bride, because when bridegroom and bride? Bridegroom and bride is when the love is the strongest, the most vehement, most flaming, fiery, passionate. He likens our love like that all the time, amen. Husband and wife sometimes become no more, lah. But the first miracle Jesus did was turn the water into wine at a wedding, which means, what? Your marriage becomes bland, like water, Jesus can turn it into wine, amen? Blessed, intoxicating wine, and may you all be intoxicated one another's love. It can happen in 2023. We're not looking to ourselves, we're looking to him, okay?

Now, the bride says to the bridegroom, "Your love, let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth". I don't want to know him from afar. Kissing is, what? Very near. Okay, those who don't understand, kissing means very near, all right? I don't want to know other people's love about Jesus and other people talk about their love for Jesus. I want to know personal his love, amen. Then she says this to the Lord. "Your love is better than wine". Wow, what a thing to tell the Lord. Your love is better than wine. Wine in those days is that which, they celebrate, you know, when they have big celebrations, they bring out the wine, amen. And wine also means a good harvest, which means prosperity for all the farmers, many of them were farmers. And he's saying, the bride is saying, "Your love is better than all the greatest earthly pleasures".

I pray that you know that every day. It's wonderful to wake up, when things go wrong, his love is still right. He still loves you. And somehow it gives you a brilliancy to rise above the circumstances. It gives you that knowing that it's gonna be all right. When you know he loves you, his eye is on you. When his eye is on you, it's on you from the beginning to the end, amen. But I cannot close here by not showing you the Lord's response. You'd think that this is great, look at his response a few chapters later. You know what the Lord says to her? The Lord says to her this. "How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse"! We are both his sister and his wife, and his spouse, amen. "How much better than wine is your love". In everything Jesus exceeds us. We say to the Lord, "Your love is better than wine". He turns to us and says, "Whatever little love you have for me, how much better is your love, how much better is your love to me than wine". He always exceeds us.

I asked God for a life partner many years ago. God gave me Wendy. The other day I look at her, and I think she's getting prettier. I really do. And I think I'm falling more in love with her. I envy myself of all these years, we are married for more than, what, 27 years right now, amen. And I still love that woman. I asked God for a small ministry first, you know, just to help people. God gave me all of you, this church. He always exceeds us. One time they brought some children to Jesus. You all know, if you read the gospels, mothers brought their little ones to Jesus, and they asked Jesus to touch, lay his hands on the little ones.

You know what the Bible says? Jesus embraced them. He always exceeds us. He always exceeds us, amen, even in love. He says, you know, "What little love you have, how much better is your love than wine for me". Do we think of ourself that way, that he appreciates our love? Or do you say, "My love is not as strong as Pastor Mark, Pastor Lawrence, you know, and all these other people here"? No, no, whatever little love you have, the Lord appreciates it. And he even says, "How much better". You say to him, "Lord, your love is better than wine," and his love is perfect, our is not. But he says about our imperfect love, "How much better is your love than wine". Oh, I can sit down here and continue, amen, for the rest of the year, hallelujah, but I'll dismiss you with the blessings of God. Got to pray for your minds as well, amen. For those of you who have lost your mind and do not know you have lost your mind, we'll get it back to you in Jesus' name.

Stand to your feet, praise the Lord, thank you, Jesus. Amen, amen, hallelujah. Now, friend, if you are here and say that "Pastor Prince, I've never put my trust in Jesus. I think that when you mention about my spirit being dead and all that, I think that's me. I'm cut off from God, but I feel that God is drawing me with his love, and I believe what Christ did for me on that cross. He bore my sins. Thank you, thank you, Father God, for opening my eyes today, amen. Suniemi, wisdom has entered into my heart". If that is you, pray this prayer with me right now. If you wanna put your trust in Jesus Christ, pray this simple prayer, and you will be born again. Say:

Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me. Your love is better than wine. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for my sins. He bore all my judgement and all my condemnation. All my sins have been put away when I was declared righteous by you. You raised Jesus from the dead. All my sins are put away. I'm totally forgiven, because Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior now and forever. Thank you, Father. This year I step into 2023 greatly blessed, highly favored, and you so love me. Unveil more and more of how loved I am by you. In Jesus' name, and all the people said amen.

Praise the Lord. Let me pray for you. Now, some of you may be on medication. It's not a laughing matter. It is something serious, I understand that. Don't stop your medication. But I'm gonna pray for you, because forgetfulness, like I said just now, it's a curse, amen. And Christ has redeemed us from the curse of forgetfulness. So, the manifestation can happen, like what Jesus says, how the Word of God manifests like harvests, thirtyfold. You still may forget some things. Then sixtyfold, more manifesting. Hundredfold, amen. And it's not for me to decide, none of us can tell when we get the hundredfold, but keep on believing, keep on confessing, keep on declaring that I have the mind of Christ, amen, I have the wisdom of God. Keep on asking God for wisdom, amen. Lift your hands all across this place. Father, that's that ruach. Do you sense that? The wind. Right now there's a wind that blows right in. Friend, that's the ruach, the wind, the Holy Spirit. And it's also called the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation.

Father, in the name of Jesus, as you saw the darkness in the beginning and you said, "Light be," Father, in the midst of all these minds that have gone dormant, unused, lying latent, minds that have become decrepit, brains that have, according to medical science, aged, gone smaller, I thank you there is a God with whom nothing is impossible. I thank you, Lord, that one of your benefits is renewal of youth like the eagles. So, from the onset of the year, Father, in Jesus' name we ask right now, touch the people's minds. Everyone under the sound of my voice, Father, touch their minds, touch my mind, touch our minds, Lord, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and cause all the dead spots, all the dead, unused, latent areas to come alive, to be resurrected in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Increase our brain, amen, so they will not shrink, Lord. Even as the years pass, Father, what is impossible with men is possible with you, Father. Cause us, Lord, to utilize more and more of the brain that you have given us, Lord, amen.

And, Father, we pray in Jesus' name that you will grant to each and every one who is hungry for this suniesis, that suniemi wisdom, that wisdom, Lord, that comes from you, that helps us to discern the true nature of things that we'll not be deceived, amen. Father, grant to us that wisdom, that others will say of us, "Who can find such a wise and discerning woman"? Who can find, your bosses, your employers, your clients will see in you a wisdom and discernment and gravitate towards you, because the wisdom of God is in you. Father, raise them up, Lord, with people, as people of wisdom. Suniemi. Hallelujah. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name. And when you restore, we thank you it's always 120%, greater, in Jesus' name. We receive it, amen, amen, amen, praise the Lord.

Okay, you got your three requests. Ready? Amen. Three requests, you can imagine right now as we come before God. Now, listen, I'm gonna pray for you some things that you might not agree with, like I pray that you will not die before your time this year, okay? You don't want to, you say that "No, I don't believe in that kind of", then don't believe with me, okay? God will not force his blessings. I'm gonna pray for God's protection as well. If you don't believe in protection and all that, don't have to raise your hand, don't have to say amen, all right? It only enters your life when you say amen. It means you are saying, amen means, it's the word in Hebrew for faith, amen. Abraham believed God, that's amen. Okay, are you ready? All right:

This coming year, Father, we ask, Father, in Jesus' name that these three requests that we bring before you will manifest in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, people, bring the request before God. We're in his wonderful presence. I sense the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You can sense the wind coming, it's very refreshing. Can you sense it? There it is again. Can you sense that wind? Like a cool evening breeze blowing in this place, amen. And I believe in MBS as well, everywhere that's watching this. Even right now in GRC, it's happening. Whenever you're watching this, it's happening. Do you feel that, people? Do you sense that? Hallelujah. Now, bring your first request. Just quietly under your breath, just tell the Father, "This is my request". Bring your second request. Say, "Father, this is my request". Your third request.

And, Father, we thank you you've heard us, Lord, and you shall send forth your answers speedily. You will send your answers from out of heaven, Father, amen. Upon the earth it shall be established. In Jesus' name, amen.

And I wanna say this. Some of you are gonna get the manifestation of it very quick, in the first month, in the second month. When that happens, write to us and let us know, okay? Will you do that? Praise the Lord, amen. Lift your hands all across this place. This coming year, I pray over you and your families.

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ may you and your families be in the sacred place of the Most High under the shadow, the protection, the shelter of the Most High. A thousand falls at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, it will not come near you. Whatever comes this year, it will not come near you. Recession or whatever it is, it will not touch and affect you negatively. In the name of Jesus, Father, I pray, Lord, you will unleash more than enough provisions, Lord, for your people. Not just for their own needs, Lord, but plenty left over to be a blessing to others, Lord, and for the gospel of Jesus Christ, that they'll not compromise, Father, on tithing, on sowing and reaping and giving to you, Lord, because your ways will never fail. Father, in Jesus' name they'll become givers and blessers, Lord. Hallelujah, everywhere they go.

And, Father, I pray in Jesus' name that this year will be so full of favor as you bless Neftali. Satisfy with the favor, Lord. I pray that everyone under the sound of my voice, Lord, they and their families will be satisfied and be full of the favor of God, that people be drawn to them, not knowing why, just because the favor of God upon you and your loved ones, amen. The Lord protect you and your loved ones throughout this year. None of you will die before your time. You'll die only if Jesus tarries, if Jesus doesn't come back, you'll die when you are satisfied. In the name of Jesus, Father, in the name of Jesus, the Lord lift up his face on you, his smile on you. Grant to you and yours throughout this year peace. In Jesus' name, amen.