11/10/23
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
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TODAY’S WORD:
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE.
Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1–2, NIV
NOTHING TO PROVE
Years ago, a friend invited me to come to his house after we played basketball at the gym, so I jumped in the car with him. He had a really beautiful sports car. As we were driving to his house, I noticed he was taking the long way. He could have saved a few miles taking the direct route. I asked why he didn’t go the easy way. He said, “My ex-girlfriend lives on this street. I always drive by to make sure she sees what she’s missed out on.” They had been broken up for almost ten years, but every chance he got, he still went out of his way to prove that she was missing out, to prove that he was successful, to prove that he was happy without her. What’s funny is that he found out later she had moved across town years earlier. All that time he was driving by, proving his point, she wasn’t even there.
I wonder how many times we’re trying to prove something to someone and the person isn’t even paying attention. We’re trying to impress people who don’t even care. We’re competing with someone who doesn’t even know we’re competing. Yes, it’s good to have goals, it’s good to have people who challenge us and inspire us to go further, but we’re not going to be blessed if our motives are not pure.
When our motive in trying to impress someone is to feed our ego, to pay them back, to show them how great we are, or to make up for our lack of self-worth, that’s a dead-end street. Let God fight your battles. Let Him promote you. Let Him vindicate you. His favor upon us is not so we can prove that we’re talented or as good as someone else. It’s to fulfill our assignment. It’s to advance the Kingdom.
How much time and energy are you spending trying to feel good enough, talented enough, smart enough, worthy enough? It’s not worth it. Try a different approach. Come out from under the pressure of striving and working.
You have nothing to prove. What people think about you doesn’t determine your destiny. Accomplishing more is nice, but it’s not going to make you more valuable. Your income may increase, but your value is not going to increase.
Don’t get baited into being competitive, trying to outperform, thinking that’s going to give you more worth. Run your race. Stay focused on what you’re called to do. Don’t live for other people’s applause; live for God’s applause.
REFLECTION
Is there anyone you are trying too hard to impress? Anyone you are competing with? How can the principle of Nothing to Prove help you see yourself differently?
When you understand that God is pleased with you, it doesn’t really matter what other people think about you. Let this get down in your spirit. Reflect on who you are in God’s eyes.
DECLARATION
Today, I declare that I am approved by the Most High God, the Almighty Creator who formed me in the womb and who knew me before I was born. I will rest in my identity as a child of God, not striving to prove myself to people. I declare that I will run the race He has laid out for me. I have the grace to overcome every adversity He allows in my life, the gifts to accomplish every dream He has given me. I declare that I will become all God created me to be.
PRAYER.
Heavenly Father, I know in my heart that I am approved by You, the Most High God. You, the Almighty Creator, formed me in the womb and knew me even before I was born. Thank You for calling me Your beloved child and that I no longer have to strive to prove myself to others. I am going to run the race You have put in front of me, embracing every challenge as an opportunity for growth. With Your grace, I will overcome every adversity that comes my way. You have equipped me with unique gifts to fulfill the dreams You have placed within my heart. Today, I boldly declare that I will become all that You created me to be. With Your guidance and love, I will shine brightly, inspiring others to find hope and purpose. In the precious Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.
SECTION TWO
I can still remember what happened when I visited a lady from my congregation in the hospital. Heather had suffered a stroke that completely paralyzed the left side of her body.
As I prayed for her, she lifted her right hand in a gesture of prayer. Amazingly, her left hand followed suit, albeit slowly. This was something that she had been unable to do following the stroke. By the grace of God, she was beginning to experience healing in her body, with sensations starting to seep back into her left arm.
Within a few moments, though, as she lay in the intensive-care ward, intubated and hooked up to incessantly beeping medical equipment, her left arm started to tremble with strain.
“Don’t worry about praying for a breakthrough,” I assured Heather. Smiling at her, I gestured to one of my pastors who was with me and told her, “Leave the praying to us.”
Then, tapping my index finger on the side of my head, I told her, “But watch your mental movies. Make sure that you play the right movies in your mind.”
What did I mean by that? I was telling her to see what God sees and ignore all the sounds, scents, and sights that her natural senses were picking up in the hospital environment. I was encouraging her to fill her mind with mental images of herself being healthy, strong, and basking in the love of her family at home. I didn’t want her to keep seeing all the worst-case scenarios in her mind.
Then I said to her, “It takes a thought to heal a thought.”
It was a word that I had received in my spirit for her. For some reason, I just felt like the enemy had succeeded in planting a wrong thought or mental picture in her mind, and that had to be removed and replaced with the right thoughts, pictures, and beliefs that are based on the unchanging Word of God. Shortly after our meeting, Heather was discharged from the hospital and her condition improved.
My friend, if you are being tormented by wrong or negative thoughts in your mind, you need the truth of God’s Word to uproot them. Keep meditating on God’s Word and promises to you.
As you do, the negative, defeatist thoughts that have kept you in fear and anxiety will be replaced with God’s good thoughts to bless you with peace and wholeness in every area of your life. Let His Word give you a vision of a bright future full of hope and good things!
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