22/11/23
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD
Today’s Scripture
Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today you and your family have been saved, because you are a true son of Abraham.”
Luke 19:9, CEV
REACH OUT
It’s easy to look at someone like Zacchaeus, a dishonest and despised tax collector, and make judgments, to find fault and condemn, and stay away. But Jesus came down to lift, to heal, to restore every person. Jesus called Zacchaeus out of a huge crowd of people and said, “I want to go to your house for dinner.” The religious leaders and the priests said, “Why would Jesus go to this crook’s house when He’s in the midst of fine, upstanding people like us?” They believed God was holy and righteous, but they didn’t believe He stoops to notorious sinners. Jesus didn’t say a word of condemnation to Zacchaeus because he was off course, but He loved him and brought salvation to him and his family. Since God stooped down for you, why don’t you stoop down for someone else? Why don’t you reach out and love them? There’s enough judgment in our world today. There’s enough criticism and faultfinding. Let’s be lifters. Let’s be encouragers. Let’s help someone else experience the God who stoops.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You for freely giving me Your mercy that I might freely give it to others. Thank You that I can stoop to lift the fallen, to restore the broken, and to heal the hurting. Help me be willing to love people who are messy and not turn away from them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
I preach the gospel of grace because the good news of Jesus changes lives. The gospel is the good news that the moment you receive Jesus into your life and make Him your Lord and Savior, all your sins are forgiven and you receive the gift of eternal life.
You are justified and made righteous through your faith in Jesus Christ. Your righteousness is a gift from Him. In Christ you now have perfect standing before God, paid for by the precious, eternal blood of His Son.
There is no more judgment, punishment, and curse for you because the full judgment, punishment, and curse for all your sins fell upon our Lord Jesus at the cross. He paid it all!
This is what happened to Neil from the United Kingdom when he came to understand that he had become the righteousness of God in Jesus:
“While reading a book by Pastor Prince, I was delivered from a forty-year addiction to pornography. In the past, I had tried to break free from this addiction by my own power and in my own strength, but failed every time.”
“Throughout that time, the devil used this addiction to heap fear, guilt, and condemnation on me. This fear and shame kept me from asking for help from the pastors of the various churches I attended over the forty-year period. I had even held leadership positions in some of these places.”
“Through reading Pastor Prince’s book, I got a fresh revelation of who I am in Christ—I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus—and how there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It was through this fresh revelation that the grip of this addiction was broken off my life forever.”
“I now wear a ring on my left middle finger to remind myself that I am righteous, as righteous as Jesus, that there is no condemnation for me because I am in Christ Jesus, and that I am perfect and holy in God’s sight. Every time the devil tries to tempt me to view pornography, I just have to look at the ring to remind myself that I am the righteousness of God in Christ, and the temptation loses any hold on me.”
Dara Network TV 