21/06/24
JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD
Today’s Scripture
And as long as Moses held up the rod in his hands, Israel was winning; but whenever he rested his arms at his sides, the soldiers of Amalek were winning.
Exodus 17:11, TLB
HANDS LIFTED UP
Exodus 17 tells the story of Joshua and the people of Israel who were in the midst of a great battle. Moses was on a hill overlooking the battlefield, holding up a staff of God in the air, interceding for them. What Joshua didn’t realize in the midst of the battle was that the only reason he was winning was because Moses was holding up his hands with the help of two others.
Without Moses doing his part, the Israelites would have been defeated. Your challenge is to live in such a way as to cause others to win. With every right decision you make, with every step of faith you take, you are holding up your hands. Every time you resist temptation, you are winning for your children. Every time you are kind and respectful, every time you help someone in need, every time you serve someone and give, every time you pray for someone and encourage them, you are planting seeds of blessing through your faith. Your life of excellence will be rewarded and will help them live a life of victory.
A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You bring people across my path so I can be a blessing to them and help them win. Thank You that I can speak a kind word, lift them up when they’re hurting, and encourage them to follow You. Help me to be aware of other people’s battles and intercede for them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
SECTION TWO
God is interested in your success. Even if you are not the swiftest, strongest, wisest, most knowledgeable, and most skillful in the natural, God can still bless you with good success when you depend on His grace.
God’s way is completely opposite from the world’s way. According to 1 Corinthians 1:26, “not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” Isn’t it fascinating to discover that while the world looks favorably upon the wise, mighty, and noble, God does not?
Let’s see in the next verse what God chooses instead: “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” In His hands of grace, the foolish and weak things become even wiser and mightier than the wise and mighty things of the world!
This is something I have experienced personally. In high school, I was a stutterer. I watched the other kids talking and reading aloud in class effortlessly while I had serious trouble getting words out of my mouth.
Honestly, if you had told me then that I would be preaching to thousands of people every week, I would have run for cover under the table and said, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” If there was an area anyone who knew me back then believed I would fail in, it would have to be public speaking. But God looked down and said, “I am going to make a preacher out of this boy.”
One day, when I was tired of being miserable, I told the Lord, “Lord, I don’t have much to give You, but whatever I have I give You.” I remember how my voice was the thing that embarrassed me the most, so I said, “Lord, I give You my voice.” When I said that, I pitied Him for getting someone like me who had so many weaknesses.
To cut a long story short, after I gave all my weaknesses to the Lord, something supernatural happened. I stopped being conscious of my stuttering and it supernaturally disappeared. In the area of my weakness, God supplied His strength.
About two years ago, one of the teachers from my high school days came to my church and sat in one of the services I was preaching in. After the service, she wrote me a note that said, “I see a miracle. This must be God!”
Why does the Lord choose foolish and weak things to confound the wise and mighty things of this world? It’s so that “no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:29). God chooses the things that are weak in the natural so that no man can boast of his own ability—all glory redounds to the Lord.
My friend, it is those who are proud and who depend on their human strength that God cannot use. So when you look at yourself and see only weaknesses, depend on God’s unmerited favor and know that God can and will use you!
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