GOSPEL CORNER: PAY ATTENTION TO THE STORY YOU’RE TELLING YOURSELF. GO BACK TO WHAT GOD PUT IN YOUR HEART. HE WANTS YOU TO DREAM AGAIN, TO BELIEVE AGAIN, TO LOVE AGAIN. 

31/05/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.
Proverbs 4:23, NCV

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?
It’s interesting that as little children we start off with big dreams to be an astronaut, a writer, a scientist, or a singer. As a child, we have no limits. We believe we can do great things. But over time our dreams start to get in watered down. People tell us what we can’t do. We go through disappointments, things that are unfair. We let negative thoughts taint how we see ourselves and what we’re capable of. We end up settling for so much less than what God has for us.

Pay attention to the story you’re telling yourself. Go back to what God put in your heart. He wants you to dream again, to believe again, to love again. Don’t let wrong thoughts limit your destiny. Don’t believe the lies that say, “I’ll never get well, never go to college, or never meet the right person.” Tell yourself a new story. You can still accomplish your dream. You can still get well, still meet someone awesome, and still go to new levels. Get rid of that limited thinking. Victory begins in your mind.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that I can take back my story and stop allowing negative thoughts to enter and play over and over. Thank You that I can clear out all the thoughts that limit me and tell me what I can’t do. Help me to dwell on what You have to say about me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

SECTION TWO

Beloved, when we are willing to have the Lord Jesus protect us and our family, and we take time daily to let Him know we are putting our trust in Him, we receive His abundant mercies for needs that transcend our understanding.

I received a praise report from Victoria who lives in California that vividly illustrates how the Lord protects us when we simply come boldly to His throne of grace and humbly consent to be protected by Him. This is what Victoria shared with me:

Sometime ago, I was replaying your on-demand Web broadcast. At the end of the message, you said you would pray for our protection. I quickly put the message on pause and called my seventeen-year-old daughter to come and receive the prayer and blessing with me.

During the prayer, you prayed that we would not die in our sleep. Though we did not have that fear, we received the prayer gladly anyway.

The next morning, when I woke up, I felt really ill, to the point I didn’t think I could go to work. When I went to wake my daughter to go to school, she was also unwell, complaining of the same symptoms I was experiencing. Sensing something amiss, we both went to the ER and found out we had carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty heater!

We know and have heard reports of how people who were exposed to carbon monoxide while asleep usually died in their sleep. We believe we were saved because of the prayer you prayed over us and our receiving it. God heard and answered. He woke us up just in time so we could be saved. We give Jesus all the glory!

What a powerful testimony of a believer who takes every opportunity to come to the throne of grace and gladly consent to come under the Lord’s wings of protection! I pray you’ll be encouraged to do the same every day.