24/02/24
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
Today’s Word
Today’s Scripture
Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the LORD means safety.
Proverbs 29:25, NLT
A DANGEROUS TRAP
It is a dangerous trap to let other people’s opinions of you, whether they will approve you, determine what you do or hold you back from doing what you know you should do. It is dangerous because if you fear people, if you live to please them, you can miss your destiny. Sometimes you have to be brave and go it alone. You have to do it without the approval of the people you thought would be for you. Other people may not see what God put in you. They can’t feel what you feel. You don’t have to have their approval. You and God are a majority.
The Almighty God has shone His favor upon you. You can hear God’s voice for your life more than anyone else. Other people may confirm and encourage it, but if what they say doesn’t agree with your spirit, you need to dismiss it. Quit worrying about their opinions and get your approval from Him. Set your face like a flint and say, “God, I’m not living to please people. I’m living to please You.”
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that I don’t have to look to someone else to tell me who I am or what I should do. Thank You that I can know Your voice and follow You whether others approve or not. I declare that my identity and value is securely in Your hands and I’m not looking to others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
SECTION TWO
Do you believe that God loves you with an unchanging love today? Even if you’ve just failed or made a mistake? This, my friend, is where the rubber meets the road in our Christian walk every day.
I’m here to tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that God loves you with an everlasting love. His love for you is unconditional (Titus 3:3–5 NASB).
It is a love that is so pure, pristine, and marvelous. It has nothing to do with your performance, but everything to do with who you are in His eyes—His beloved.
The emphasis of the old covenant of the law was all about your love for God, whereas the emphasis of the new covenant of grace is all about God’s love for you. The sum total of the law under the old covenant is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5, Matt. 22:37, 40).
Let’s be honest here. Have you ever met anyone who can love God this way? Of course not. It’s a human impossibility. The law was designed to show us that we are incapable of loving God perfectly.
Knowing that man wouldn’t be able to fulfill His commandment to love Him with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind, and all his strength, do you know what God did? He demonstrated how only He could love us with all His heart, all His soul, all His mind, and all His strength when He sent His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from all our sins with His own blood.
That is why the new covenant is all about God’s love for you and not your love for Him!
Under grace, God doesn’t want you to focus your thoughts on, “Do I really love God?” That’s not the focus of the new covenant. Under grace, God wants you to focus on His love for you. Therefore, the questions you should be asking yourself are:
“Do I know how much God loves me today?”
“Do I really believe that God loves me right now?”
Choose to believe right about how God loves you today. It makes all the difference in the world to how quickly you are able to get back on your feet, and go from faith to faith and strength to strength in your walk with Him.
Dara Network TV 