15/09/23
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
Today’s Word
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the LORD sends rain and the crops grow again!”
1 Kings 17:14, NLT
From Running Out to Running Over
Peace, with a severe drought in the land, no income, no savings, and no food, a widow was preparing a last meal for herself and her son before their anticipated death when the prophet Elijah arrived and asked her for some bread. Based on God’s promise in today’s Scripture, she took a step of faith and made him bread from what little flour she had left. From that day forward, for three and a half years, the oil never ran out and the flour container was never empty. She had supernatural provision. She went from running out to running over.
Every time God asks you to do a hard thing, that means there’s a big blessing coming. The obedience requires your trust, courage, and faith. Thoughts will tell you, “What good will that do?” You have to fight off the doubt and negative thoughts. But when you choose to obey, when you do the right thing when it’s hard, you’re setting yourself up for God to show out in your life, to see supernatural favor, supernatural healing, supernatural provision.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You for being the God of infinite grace and favor who always exceeds my greatest expectations. Thank You that as I give freely of myself, You will bless me to the point of overflowing in every area of my life. I believe that it will be beyond what I have faith for. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
The Lord does not want you to simply claim His promises of protection found in Psalm 91. He wants you to come close to Him. Running to Him and coming under His feathers speak of closeness. It’s not about how many times you have recited Psalm 91; it’s about having an intimate relationship with Him.
As a child, if it was thundering at night and I was afraid, I would run into my parents’ room, jump into their bed, and hide in my mother’s arms. After a while, I would fall into a deep sleep even if the storm was still raging outside.
You see, you don’t have to learn the seven steps of overcoming fear. Having the presence of a loving parent right with you is enough to drive out fear. Our Lord Jesus who loves you wants you to come close to Him and to take shelter in His love. Will you do that today?
I heard the story of a farmer whose farmhouse got burned down. As he walked around the smoldering wreckage, he saw the burned carcasses of his chickens. He happened to move the blackened body of one of the hens with his foot, and to his astonishment, little chicks came running out from under the body. What happened? They had taken refuge under the wings of their mother, who had given her life to save her little ones.
That’s a picture of what our Lord Jesus did when He took upon His own body the full punishment for our sins. The fire of God’s judgment fell, not upon the scribes and Pharisees who had rejected the Messiah, and not upon the Roman soldiers who nailed Him to the cross, but upon His own beloved Son—for the nation of Israel, for the Gentile nations, for you, for me, so that whosoever believes in Him would be saved.
But here’s something I want you to see: when Jesus was offered on the cross, He absorbed the judgment of God in His own body, and, as the sacrifice, He was greater than the fires of judgment. The Offering was greater than the judgment because the Offering was not consumed.
On that cross, our Lord declared, “It is finished!” before He gave up His Spirit (John 19:30). The Offering remained after all of God’s judgment was exhausted. Hallelujah! That is why we can come boldly to His throne of grace today!
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