27/12/23
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD
Today’s Scripture
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
Luke 2:26, NIV
COMPLETE YOUR INCOMPLETIONS
In today’s Scripture, you can imagine how far out the revelation given by the Holy Spirit to a man named Simeon seemed. As time went by, and Simeon didn’t see any sign of the Messiah, I’m sure the negative thoughts came: “You heard God wrong. It’s been too long. It’s never going to happen.” Nevertheless, Simeon awakened every morning believing, expecting, and knowing that it would happen, and one day he met the newborn Jesus in the temple. The promise came to a dramatic fulfillment and Simeon declared, “My eyes have seen Your salvation!”
Life will try to push you down, steal your dreams, and talk you into settling for less than what God promises. Will you stay in faith, even though every voice tells you that it’s not happening? God is saying to you what He said to Simeon: “You need to get ready. I am going to finish what I started. No one and nothing can stop Me from fulfilling My promises to you. I will complete your incompletions, even the secret petitions of your heart.”
A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that You will bring to completion the good work You began in me. Thank You that the fulfillment of my dreams is on the way, even the secret petitions of my heart. I believe that You will complete my incompletions and equip me to do what You put me here to do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” The Word of God says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Now, what is the kingdom of God? The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 14:17 that the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
SECTION TWO
When you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and pursue the kingdom of God, which is Jesus’ righteousness, His peace, and His joy, God’s Word promises that “all these things” will be added to you. “These things” refer to what you will eat, drink, and wear.
Jesus tells us that you do not have to be consumed by these concerns. If your Father feeds even the birds of the air, even though they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, how much more will He take care of you, who are of much more value to Him than the birds (Matt. 6:25–32)!
Beloved, keep your eyes on Jesus and His finished work on the cross. He will add the things that you need in this life to you and cause you to become safe for success. Now, turn with me to the book of Jeremiah to see what the Lord says about having riches, wisdom, and might.
“Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.—Jeremiah 9:23–24, NASB
Let us be a people who will not depend on our own wisdom, might, and riches (in summary, our own merits), but rather, let our boasting (dependence) be in understanding and knowing Jesus.
Know that He is gracious and full of unmerited favor toward us. Know that He executes justice against all injustices. Know that He Himself is righteousness and He clothes us with His robes of righteousness. The more you focus on beholding Jesus in all His loveliness and the less you struggle to earn things by your own merits, the more you become safe for greater success in your life.
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