CHRONIC ILLNESS, DEPRESSION, OR A SHORT LIFE IS NOT, AND WILL NEVER BE, PART OF GOD’S PLAN FOR YOU.

29/08/24

GOSPEL CORNER

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
Genesis 48:14, NIV

FROM THE BACK TO THE FRONT
When Israel blessed the sons of Joseph, he purposefully crossed his hands and gave Ephraim the firstborn blessing. The tradition was that the right hand always gave the greatest blessing to the firstborn son. Israel was saying, “Ephraim may have been in the back and is not next in line, but I’m shifting him to a new position. I’m taking him from the back to the front. I will give him what he doesn’t deserve.”

That’s the way our God is. He has shifts in your future that will put you in positions you didn’t earn and didn’t qualify for. You may not have the seniority, but God will cross His hands and say, “I’m moving you from the back to the front, from not being qualified to suddenly being qualified, from being looked down on or disrespected to being honored and seen with influence and credibility.” This shift will put you at a place where you look back and say, “God, You amaze me with Your goodness.” Start expecting unprecedented favor, believing for God to do something new in your life.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that there are new levels of my destiny to which You are taking me that come from Your goodness and love. I expect to see Your hand of unprecedented favor working in ways exceedingly abundantly above and beyond my greatest dreams. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

God’s heart is never for you to die prematurely, nor to live a life that is miserable. Psalm 91:16 says, “With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

This means that God not only wants you to have a long life, but He also wants you to have a satisfying life that is full of His peace, provision, and joy! In the verse, the word “salvation” is the Hebrew word Yeshua, the name of Jesus. So God will satisfy you with a long life that is full of Jesus and His grace!

Chronic illness, depression, or a short life is not, and will never be, part of God’s plan for you. He wants you to experience a long, full life in which you walk in all the blessings of health, wholeness, and provision that He has given you through Jesus!