01/11/23
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD
Today’s Scripture
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.
Joshua 10:13, NIV
***UNCOMMON FAITH
Joshua was in the midst of a great battle. The sun was going down, and Joshua knew that if he couldn’t get the enemy’s army totally defeated, they would rise up later and cause problems. So he asked God to stop the sun, something that had never been done before. God said in effect, “Joshua, if you’re bold enough to ask it, I’m bold enough to do it.” His uncommon faith brought a smile to God’s face. God interrupted the entire universe because one man had uncommon faith.
***Uncommon faith is above and beyond. It gives you a boldness and a confidence to believe for the extraordinary and step into the unknown. You believe God can do anything. Average faith says, “God, help me to survive this recession.” Uncommon faith says, “God, I believe You will prosper me in the midst of this recession.” Uncommon faith says, “I’m not only coming out of this problem, I’m coming out better off than I was before.” You are a child of the Most High God, so be full of uncommon faith.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You for the promise of Your blessing on my life that is supernatural. I believe that You will multiply me even in the midst of famine and make me an example of Your goodness to others. I am going to keep doing the right thing and expecting You to show out in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
SECTION TWO
When I visited the Mount of Beatitudes in Israel some time ago, the Lord opened my eyes to see for the first time how He had met the man with leprosy in Matthew 8:1–4. After preaching to the multitudes, our Lord didn’t go down the mountain toward them. Our Lord had actually walked down the mountain in another direction, very likely in the direction toward Capernaum (Matt. 8:5).
As I took a path down the mountain toward Capernaum that day, I saw slabs of stone strewn along the foot of the mountain. These stone slabs are just the right size for a man to crawl under and find shelter. Right then and there, I had the revelation of how the man with leprosy could have hidden under one of these slabs for fear of being discovered by the people, and how our Lord Jesus had known the man was hiding there and deliberately gone to seek him before the crowds caught up with Him.
In Jesus’ day, those with leprosy were ostracized and isolated in accordance with the law of Moses. Because they were conscious of how unclean they were and what the law required of them, their natural response was to withdraw and hide.
But hiding didn’t get the man with leprosy in Matthew 8 the healing and restoration he needed. Fortunately, hearing about the goodness of God—how God wanted to be a loving Father to him and take care of all his needs—got him out of hiding and into seeking the Lord for his miracle.
It changed his mind from seeing a God Who ostracized and condemned unclean people to seeing a God Who loved them no matter what their condition. This change of mind lit his faith and put courage in his heart to seek and receive the healing he so desperately wanted.
“Like the man with leprosy at the start of his story, could you also be hiding from God today? Maybe you’ve been struggling with an addiction or cycle of defeat that you can’t seem to get out of. Maybe you’ve been a victim of sexual abuse and you blame yourself for it. Maybe you’ve had a failed marriage or business, or made a bad decision that has led to loss. And maybe your failure has caused you to avoid God, avoid going to church, and avoid people in general.”
Beloved, whatever may be causing you to feel “unclean” or disqualified today, God wants you to change your mind about Him and, instead of hiding from Him, to run to Him!
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