17/08/23
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
Today’s Word
Today’s Scripture
“Stop striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted on the earth.”
Psalm 46:10, NASB
STOP STRIVING
It’s easy to go through life thinking we have to make everything happen—make our business grow, make ourselves get well, make our child do right. There’s this constant pressure to fix something, to improve in some area, so we live striving, trying to force doors to open, to do better, to work harder. There’s no rest, no peace inside. You weren’t created to live that way. As long as you’re in this striving mode, trying to fix everything, you’re not going to know that He’s God, and you’re not going to see His favor and His goodness as you should.
It’s very freeing when you realize that if you keep God first place, He’ll bring what you need. All the striving does is to wear you out, causing you to feel overwhelmed, keeping you awake at night, giving you digestive problems.
Take the pressure off. You can’t make people do what’s right, make your coworker like you, make your finances turn around. Your job is to be your best each day, to honor God, and He will bring dreams to pass.
A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that I can stop striving and know that You are God. Help me to stop trying to change what only You can change and stop trying to fix things over which I have no control. I declare that I’m going to stay in peace and know that You are in control. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
PART TWO
This is the most important verse in Psalm 91! If you ever had any doubt that God desires for you to live a long, good life, let this verse be your answer. You may be battling with a health condition right now, but by faith let’s hold fast to this verse together. In Jesus’ mighty name, I see you healed, healthy, and whole. I see you strong in Christ and ready to take on any giant that is ahead of you.
One of my favorite pictures of long life is found in the biblical character Caleb. When he was eighty-five years old, he said, “I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war” (Josh. 14:10–11).
The faith picture here of long life is not just in terms of quantity—the number of days—but also quality—health and strength. Caleb remained as strong at eighty-five as he was when he was forty-five. Which means in the last forty years in the harsh wilderness, his strength, youth, and vigor didn’t diminish. There was no leaking, no receding, and no fading away of his strength!
If perhaps you think that Caleb was just talking big, look at what he said next: “Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said” (Josh. 14:12).
At eighty-five, Caleb was ready to fight with giants to gain possession of a mountain! And Caleb did as he said! Read the evidence for yourself: “Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel” (Josh. 14:14).
You were impressed when a teenage shepherd boy picked a fight with one giant named Goliath? We should be completely blown away by this eighty-five-year-old, who took on a whole mountain packed with giants! Caleb was zealous for the Lord’s glory. As far as he was concerned, there was unfinished business because the Lord had promised them the mountain forty years ago. My personal belief is that his biological clock stopped ticking and he basically stopped aging because he kept his eyes not on himself, but on the promises of the Lord. As you meditate on and find strength in God’s promises, the same can happen for you!
https://www.josephprince.com/meditate-devo/he-satisfies-you-with-long-life
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