GOSPEL CORNER:THE BATTLE HAS ALREADY BEEN WON

16/01/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
CHILDREN, YOU BELONG TO GOD, AND YOU HAVE DEFEATED THESE ENEMIES. GOD’S SPIRIT IS IN YOU AND IS MORE POWERFUL THAN THE ONE WHO IS IN THE WORLD.
1 JOHN 4:4, CEV

The Battle Has Already Been Won
We all face situations that should hold us back. What we’re up against is bigger and stronger, and it’s easy to be intimidated and live in fear, thinking that we can never move forward. But the Scripture says that what’s against you has already been defeated. God is not in the heavens fighting with the enemy, trying to free you, heal you, deliver you, or favor you. The battle has already been won. Two thousand years ago, when Jesus rose from the grave, He defeated death and everything that can hold you back. He took care of it once and for all. The writer of Hebrews says, “He rendered the enemy powerless” or “brought him to naught,” which means zero. It wasn’t even close. It was a shutout.

Here’s the beauty: Because you belong to God, because you’re His child, you have already defeated the enemy. You need to see anything you face in life as defeated. Don’t pray for victory; pray from victory. “Father, thank You that I am free, healed, forgiven, prosperous, and victorious.”

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that every force of the enemy was broken when Jesus rose from the dead and took the keys of death and hell from him. Thank You for living in me and rendering the enemy powerless. I declare that I belong to You and I am going to walk in victory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Our enemy the devil is well aware that the moment you learn to receive God’s grace, you will start to reign in life. So he has been working hard to prevent you from receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.

The devil has been using controversy as a device down through church history to prevent believers from having access to the most powerful truths of God. He has built fences of controversy around healing, prosperity, and grace (calling them heresies) to keep believers from reigning over sickness, poverty, and sin. You can always tell how powerful a truth is by the number of controversies the devil surrounds it with!

Please pay close attention to what I am saying. Not all controversies are based on the truth of God’s Word. We have to test everything against what the Bible says.

Nevertheless, controversy is a tool that the devil uses to prevent God’s people from accessing His truths. He is a crafty liar and deceitful thief, so we have to base what we believe on the Scriptures and test everything against it. If you want to know the truth about God’s grace, study His Word yourself and see what it has to say about grace!

Pastor Prince, are you one of those “prosperity gospel” preachers?

My friend, there is no such thing as a “prosperity gospel.” There is only one gospel in the Bible—the gospel of Jesus Christ.

However, when you believe the gospel of Jesus, which is based entirely on His grace, it will result in health and abundance of provision. In fact, the gospel of Jesus Christ leads to blessings, success, healing, restoration, protection, financial breakthroughs, security, peace, wholeness, and much more!

God blesses you not because you are good, but because He is good. It is based on His faithfulness and goodness toward you. It is not contingent on your performance, but on His undeserved favor.

If it were contingent on how good you are, then it would no longer be grace but the law. It would be deserved favor. This is the difference between the old covenant of law and the new covenant of grace:

Law is deserved favor—When you obey the commandments perfectly, you will be blessed.

Grace is undeserved favor—Jesus obeyed God perfectly, and you will be blessed by believing in Him.

My friend, which covenant are you under today? Law or grace? Deserved favor or undeserved favor? How do you see God—as your Judge or loving Father?

If you think that being blessed by God today is dependent on your doing, your ability to keep the law, and your ability to make yourself righteous, I ask you to test your understanding of grace against the Scriptures.

Read today’s Scripture again and open your heart to what it says about God and His grace toward you: God is your loving Father in heaven who loves you and has nothing but good gifts for you. He sent His Son to die for you so that you can enjoy every one of these good gifts. Today, receive His abundant grace!