18/07/23
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
Today’s Word
Today’s Scripture
Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.
John 2:7, NKJV
Obey His Word
In John 2, when the good wine ran out at a wedding, Jesus told the staff to fill six large stone pots with water, which seemed odd. They needed wine not water. Sometimes God will ask you to do things you don’t understand. He has the best wine ready, but it’s dependent on your obedience to His word. Will you do what He’s asking you to do? It may be to forgive someone who did you wrong and hurt you. You think you have a right to be bitter, but that will keep you from the best wine. It may be to step out in faith when you don’t feel qualified to teach a class, to start a business, or to mentor a young person. Or maybe it’s to keep a good attitude when you’re being treated unfairly and let God be your vindicator. He can vindicate you better than you can vindicate yourself.
Keep doing what God asks you to do. Keep being good to people, keep giving, serving, and expecting. The best wine is coming.
A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that I don’t have to understand everything You ask me to do. I just have to obey. Thank You that I can let go of every unfair thing and forgive quickly before bitterness can come in. I’m going to keep being good to others and expecting the best is coming. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
PART TWO
It is the Father’s love for you that gives you the power to overcome every mistake, failure, and sin in your life. The Bible puts it this way: “Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace” (Rom. 6:14 NLT). Isn’t that beautiful? Today you are living under the freedom of God’s amazing grace—His unmerited, undeserved, and unearned favor in your life. Grace gives you freedom. Freedom from lack, from fear, from addictions, from the torment of guilt, and from every curse and every sin! The more you experience the love and grace of your heavenly Father, the more you fall in love with Him and out of love with sin.
Did you know that the enemy has no hold over people who know their Father loves them? If Adam and Eve had believed in God’s love for them, the devil would not have been successful in tempting them. Unfortunately, they chose to believe the lie that the serpent had planted by portraying God as stingy and selfish, as if He was withholding something good from them.
That’s why I want you to be anchored in the Father’s love. You will be unshakable. You will have no desire to touch certain things, go to certain places, or be associated with certain people. You will keep away from negative influences because you trust your Father’s heart for you and believe that He only wants what’s best for you. You rest, knowing that He is watching out for you to protect you and insulate you from harm.
I’ve seen that children who are secure in their father’s love are able to say no to all kinds of temptations. This is because that vacuum in their lives is already filled. They don’t have to do things to win the approval of their friends when they can find absolute 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. 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.
https://www.josephprince.com/meditate-devo/knowing-your-value-makes-a-difference
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