GOSPEL CORNER : WHAT ARE YOUR EYES FIXED ON TODAY? ARE THEY FOCUSED ON THE DARKNESS THAT IS IN THE WORLD? OR ARE THEY FIXED ON THE LORD’S PROMISES FOR YOUR LIFE?

10/01/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
When the sailors heard this, they were frightened, because Jonah had already told them he was running from the LORD.
Jonah 1:10, CEV

TIME TO STOP RUNNING
It’s easy to avoid things in life that we should be dealing with. Instead of forgiving people who have done us wrong and moving on, we push the hurt down. Or maybe we need to apologize to someone, but that’s uncomfortable, so we keep putting it off. Perhaps a new door opens, and we know it’s a God-given opportunity, but we’re afraid and feel unqualified. Instead of confronting our fear or what’s uncomfortable, we run from it, even from God’s call.

As long as you’re running away, you’re going to miss the greatness God put in you. You can’t conquer what you don’t confront. Too often we’re comforting what we should be confronting. We’re making lists of excuses. But you can’t run from everything that’s uncomfortable. You can’t ignore issues, sweep them under the rug, and think they’ll go away. When you get honest with yourself, when you confront what you know you need to deal with, it may be uncomfortable, but God gives you the grace, the strength, and the power to do what you couldn’t do on your own.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for always calling me higher and calling me to lay aside the list of excuses that keep me from being my best. Help me to confront the areas I need to deal with and to step out in faith and see change. I believe that with Your help I can overcome and be victorious. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

SECTION TWO

What are your eyes fixed on today? Are they focused on the darkness that is in the world? Or are they fixed on the Lord’s promises for your life?

My chief intention here is to turn your eyes away from the destruction you see every day, and to turn them to our beautiful Lord Jesus.

Do you know what Caleb’s secret to long life was? The passage above tells us that it was found in simply following the Lord. Hebron was the name for one of the cities of refuge in the Bible. In Hebrew, “Hebron” means fellowship or association. This speaks of intimacy, closeness, and connection with the Lord.

There is no formula to long life. It’s all about having an intimate relationship with Jesus. Our Lord Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Follow Him and find the path to a long and abundant life.

Don’t forget that everything Caleb experienced was under the old covenant. His renewal of youth and unabated strength and vigor were all experienced under the old covenant. How much more should we be experiencing this renewal of youth, boundless energy, and length of days under the new covenant of grace that is established on better promises (Heb. 8:6)!

In a psalm that Moses wrote, it says, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years” (Ps. 90:10). Some people have used this to teach that our expected lifespan is therefore between seventy and eighty years.

But it is important we interpret this psalm in the context of the children of Israel being in the wilderness and under God’s wrath. We have also seen that even under the old covenant, Caleb transcended this lifespan and was still going strong at eighty-five years old.

So dear reader—you who are under the new covenant—I encourage you to aim high. Don’t settle for living till just seventy or eighty years old, when God has promised, “With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation” (Ps. 91:16, boldface mine).

Your satisfaction is the limit and according to your faith, be it unto you. I pray that as you stay close to our Lord Jesus, you will live long, live strong, and live under the protective covering of His wings.