GOSPEL CORNER:YOU HAVE PUT MORE JOY IN MY HEART THAN THEY HAVE WHEN THEIR GRAIN AND WINE ABOUND.PSALM 4:7, ESV

27/03/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
Psalm 4:7, ESV

JOY IN THE JOURNEY
Too often we’re going to enjoy life when we accomplish a goal, when the kids are raised, when our spouse changes, when we get the promotion. Our joy is always in the future, when we cross another finish line, so we’re always rushing to the next thing. The problem is there’s always something that keeps us upset. The enemy would love to deceive us into enduring life but not enjoying life. Having children but not enjoying them. Being married but unhappy about our spouse’s flaws. Having a house, a job, and opportunities, but always having some reason we’re not happy.

The key is to find joy in the journey. You’re not there yet, you’re still waiting for things to improve, still believing for that promise, but in the meantime you’re enjoying where you are while you’re on the way to where you’re going. You can do that because the Scripture says that the joy of the Lord, the joy He puts in your heart, is your strength. Keep Him first place, and you’ll always have His joy.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You have a destination for my life as well as a journey to enjoy while I’m getting there. Thank You that You are my joy and that in Your presence is the fullness of joy. I declare that I will walk with You and enjoy the people and blessings You have given me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

The flesh in us can produce a whole gamut of emotions and thoughts, from defeat, jealousy, greed, and lust to anger, inferiority, condemnation, and arrogance. As long as we are in this physical body, the flesh is active in us.

But we can rejoice because when Jesus died on the cross, the Word of God tells us that He “condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). All the negative thoughts and toxic emotions from the flesh have already been judged and punished at the cross. Today we can experience victory over the flesh through the power of the cross.

You can read all about the apostle Paul’s struggle with the flesh in Romans 7:18–19: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (emphasis mine).

Did you notice how many times the words “I,” “me,” and “my” are mentioned in just the two verses above? I’m sure you can identify with the apostle Paul here in his struggle with the flesh. It’s the struggle we all face when we are occupied with ourselves and warring with the flesh within us. It’s a life of vexation, angst, defeat, and despair.

This is not where God wants you to live, my friend. A believer doesn’t live in Romans chapter 7. Through Christ Jesus, we should be living in Romans chapter 8. Let’s read on and discover how Paul broke free from this bondage of self.

Just a few verses later, Paul cries out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24). The answer, my friend, is found in a person, and Paul tells us this person is Jesus: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:25).

Only our beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ, can deliver us from the flesh. And in Christ we can step into the first verse of Romans chapter 8, which proclaims, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (NASB).

This is where we as new covenant believers ought to live. Not in the domain of constant struggle and despair, but in the domain of no condemnation and victory.