GOSPEL CORNER: THE MORE YOU SEE IN HIS WORD WHAT HIS GRACE HAS DONE FOR YOU, THE MORE FEARS, CONDEMNATION, DEPRESSION, AND DESTRUCTIVE HABITS WILL LOSE THEIR GRIP IN YOUR LIFE. 

18/04/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
Daniel 6:10, NLT

LION PROOF
Daniel was serving the king of Persia and was noted as having an excellent spirit and great wisdom. He consistently maintained his faith while living in a foreign land and refused to waver even when the king issued a decree that no one could pray to anyone but him. Despite the threats, he kept praying to Jehovah and ended up being thrown into the lions’ den. But when you have this attitude of faith, God will fight your battles for you. He sent an angel to close the mouths of the lions.

That’s what happens when you live your days exercising your faith. When you’re in a difficult situation, you rest in faith knowing that the same God who kept Daniel safe in the lions’ den has put a hedge of protection around you. You don’t shrink back in fear with thoughts such as, “Why is this happening to me?” Instead, you rise up in faith and say, “I am lion proof. I am coming out stronger, increased, and promoted just as with Daniel. God is even in control of my enemies.”

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You are the One who opens doors and gets me to where I want to be. Show me if there is anything that is holding me back from having an excellent spirit. I declare that I will be faithful and not shrink back and take the easy way out when pressure comes. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO
What does “the truth shall make you free” really mean?

Examine the context of this verse and you’ll notice that Jesus said this to the Jews of His day. These were people who at an early age grew up studying and learning the law. Yet, these people, in ways very similar to us today, still battled with fears, anxieties, sicknesses, and all kinds of oppression, bondages, and addictions.

So this truth that Jesus was talking about clearly cannot be the law, because these people could not find freedom in the law. In fact, the truth of the law only brought them into religious bondage.

My friend, the truth that shall make you free, is the truth of His grace. This is the truth that He came to give us. His Word proclaims that “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).

The good news is that grace came to set you free from the curse of the law. Grace is not a doctrine or a theological subject. When Jesus talks about grace, He is talking about Himself. Grace is a person. Grace is Jesus Himself.

The truth that has the power to fling wide open your prison doors is His grace. His grace is the antidote to counteract every poison in your mind!

When you encounter Jesus, taste His love, and savor His loving-kindness and tender mercies, every wrong belief begins to dissolve in the glory of His love. And every dark thought and evil addiction that may have held you captive cannot but scatter when it is exposed to the light of His grace!

Your freedom is found in rightly believing in Jesus—His favor and His love in your life. When you believe right about His grace, you will begin to live right.

The more you see in His Word what His grace has done for you, the more fears, condemnation, depression, and destructive habits will lose their grip in your life. And the more you believe and enjoy His grace and love, the more you’ll find the Lord’s wisdom, stability, and peace guiding your decisions and actions.

Right believing always produces right living and the right results.