GOSPEL CORNER: IT IS THE MOST PRACTICAL THING YOU CAN EVER DO. KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS AND YOU WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE LIKE HIM

03/07/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
Today’s Word

Today’s Scripture
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
Malachi 3:10, NIV

OPEN THE FLOODGATES
If you put God first in your life, the blessings He has for you cannot be contained. You may be limited, but God is unlimited. Take the limits off God and take the limits off yourself. Who says you can’t do something great? Who says you can’t start your own business? Who says you can’t get well? Who says you can’t go where no one in your family has gone? God is calling you to be a trendsetter, a difference maker, a barrier breaker. Quit looking at what you lost, at what you don’t have. The odds may be against you, but the Most High God is for you. You’re not on your own. You and God are a majority. Nothing can stop what He has purposed for your life. Now get in agreement with God. It’s amazing what happens when you enlarge your vision. You have to believe big, pray bold prayers, and dream great dreams. Give God permission to open the floodgates of Heaven and get ready. He’s about to do something that you’ve never seen.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that the floodgates of Heaven are open as I put You first place in my life. Thank You that You are pouring out so much blessing that I won’t have room enough to store it all. I declare that I am taking the limits off You and off myself and expecting greater things than I’ve ever seen. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO

What is the value of seeing Jesus? How does this put money in your bank account and food on your table? How does this help your children in their studies?

Believers who have asked me these questions think that they are being pragmatic, but they don’t realize that miracles happen when they keep their eyes on Jesus. Look at what happened to a fisherman called Peter, who was one of Jesus’ disciples, in Matthew 14:22–33.

When his boat was in the middle of a lake, the most practical thing for a seasoned fisherman to do was to stay in the boat. Science tells you that when you step out into the water, you will sink!

But the greatest miracle that Peter experienced happened one night when he stepped out of his boat in the middle of a storm at Jesus’ word. That night, the winds were boisterous, but as long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he did the impossible—he walked on water.

Jesus was walking on the water and when Peter looked at Jesus, he became like Jesus and did the supernatural. God’s Word declares that “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Beloved, as Jesus is, so are you in this world. When you keep your focus on Jesus, you are transformed into His image from glory to glory.

You are transformed by beholding, not by working. When you see that Jesus is above the storms of your life, you will effortlessly rise above those storms.

No amount of self-effort could have helped Peter walk on water. When he did, it happened simply because he was looking at Jesus.

Let me share with you a testimony from a lady in our church. She went for a mammogram one morning and the doctors found some lumps in her breast. They told her to return to the clinic in the afternoon so that they could perform further tests to determine if the lumps were cancerous. But this lady was fresh from hearing me teach that as Jesus is, so are we in this world.

So before she returned to the clinic for the biopsy, she actually wrote on her medical report, “Does Jesus have lumps in His breast? As He is, so am I in this world.” That afternoon, she went for further tests and guess what! The doctors told her that there must have been a mistake—they could find no lumps!

Do you know why? Because as He is, so is she!

You have just seen the power of looking to Jesus. If you think that simply looking to Christ is impractical, I am challenging you today to see that it is not.

In fact, it is the most practical thing you can ever do. Keep your eyes on Jesus and you will become more and more like Him—full of health, strength, wisdom, and life!