JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD
Today’s Scripture
…and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
Colossians 3:10, NIV
BE RENEWED
You won’t be successful as long as you have a negative image of yourself. Like a magnet, the image you have of yourself will keep pulling you toward it. If you see yourself struggling, barely getting by, having a scarcity mentality, that’s what you’re moving toward. What would happen if you started seeing yourself as blessed, prosperous, talented, having a bountiful year? Then because you have the right image, because you’re in agreement with God, you’d be moving toward abundance, overflow, good breaks, a bountiful life. You’d put your shoulders back and carry yourself as the royalty God created you to be.
God’s Word says that when we face adversities, “the Lord delivers us out of them all.” It says that when the enemy comes in like a flood, God will raise up a barrier. If you see yourself as a victor and not a victim, then even in tough times you’ll stay confident, hopeful, expecting God’s favor, knowing that He didn’t bring you this far to leave you. He hasn’t failed you in the past, and He’s not going to start now.
A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that I can start this day with a fresh new attitude because You dwell in me and have given me a new nature. Thank You that I can get in agreement with Your Word and believe what You say about me. I’m going to be my best and make the most of this day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
There is a beautiful story of a Moabite woman named Ruth in the Bible. In the natural, Ruth had everything against her.
She was a poor widow, and she was a Moabitess, a Gentile in the Jewish nation of Israel. But even after her husband died, Ruth remained with her mother-in-law Naomi. She left her family to follow Naomi back to Bethlehem, and made Naomi’s God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—her God.
Now, because of their poverty, Naomi and Ruth could not afford to buy grain, and Ruth had to go out to the field to perform the menial task of gleaning whatever the reapers had left behind. I want you to notice that Ruth was depending on the Lord’s favor for she said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor” (Ruth 2:2).
Ruth was confident that God would give her favor even though she was a foreigner and had no connections with anyone in the field. She didn’t even know whose part of the field she would be able to glean in.
Look at the Bible’s account of what happened next: “And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.” Of all the spots in the field that Ruth could have wandered into, her “hap” was to come to the part of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was a man of great wealth, and who also happened to be Naomi’s relative.
“Hap” is an old English word and it means “to happen” to be at the right place. However, in the original Hebrew text, the root of this word is the word qarah!
When Ruth trusted in God’s unmerited favor, she qarah-ed or happened to come to the part of the field that belonged to Boaz. To cut a long story short, Boaz saw Ruth, fell in love with her, and married her.
Ruth was possibly at the lowest point of her life just before she met Boaz. All the natural factors were against her. But because she put her trust in the Lord, who put her at the right place at the right time, her situation was turned around completely.
In fact, she became one of the few woman to be mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:5, which states that “Boaz begot Obed by Ruth.” What an honor to be included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Talk about being at the right place at the right time!
My friend, no matter what natural circumstances may be against you today, have confidence in the unmerited favor of Jesus and He will give you what I call “qarah success.” He will cause you to be positioned at the right place at the right time to experience His protection and success in your relationships, career, and finances.
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