26/04/17
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light. But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!
Matthew 6:22–23, AMPC
THE LIGHT IN YOU
Jesus says that the lamp of the body is the eye. Your “spiritual eye” is your conscience. He adds that if the eye is clear, if your conscience is clear, life is good. You’re going to be happy, filled with light. You will have a positive vision and will enjoy God’s blessings. But many people are living with a heaviness, a darkness, hanging over their lives. They have some nagging feeling, something’s always bothering them. They’re not happy. The problem is they don’t have a clear conscience. They’ve ignored the warnings for too long.
When we’re not doing what we know we should be doing in certain areas, our lives get darkened and heavy. Maybe God is dealing with you about having a better attitude, about something you’ve said, about spending more time with your children, about eating healthier, or about what you watch and listen to. Whatever it is, make a decision that you’re going to pay more attention to your conscience and that you are going to be quick to obey. When our conscience is clear, condemnation flees and light fills us.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that because of Jesus, my conscience can be clear and my life can be full of light. Search my heart and show me where there is any lingering darkness, any area where I need to change. Help me to keep my spiritual eyes sound and live free from condemnation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
SECTION TWO
Whether you are aware of it or not, what you believe affects how you live your life. What you believe determines how you think, how you perceive a situation, and, ultimately, what course of action you take.
I’ve said this time and time again, and time and time again, I’ve also seen this principle borne out in people’s lives: Right believing always produces right living. This means that if you want to see right living in your life, you need to understand the importance of believing right. When you believe right, you can’t help but live right.
You see, people are struggling to control their behaviors and actions because they don’t have control over their emotions and feelings. They don’t have control over their emotions and feelings because they don’t have control over their thoughts. And they don’t have control over their thoughts because they are not controlling what they believe.
The converse is true. When you begin to believe right about God and in His love for you, you begin to change the way you see yourself and your situation. You’ll stop feeling hopeless. You’ll begin to lose your fears. And you’ll respond differently to negative people and situations.
This is why God wants you anchored in the powerful truths of His Word to believe in His love for you. Your heavenly Father wants you to believe that He is for you and not against you.
He wants you to know and believe that He is on your side, rooting for your success and propelling you toward your breakthrough with His love and tender mercies. He wants you to open your eyes to see what He sees when He looks at you—His beloved child.
My friend, I encourage you to take time to meditate on the truths in each of the daily readings we’ve selected. I believe that as you do, you’ll see old defeatist thinking habits falling away. You’ll find the most stubborn of addictions supernaturally annihilated. And you’ll find a confident expectation of good for your future and destiny in Christ strengthening your heart and creating amazing days ahead for you!
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