HE’S ORDERING YOUR STEPS. NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION. HE’S PROMISED THAT ALL THINGS WILL WORK TOGETHER FOR OUR GOOD

04/10/24

GOSPEL CORNER

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Proverbs 3:5, MSG

PUT IT IN GOD’S HANDS
We all face things we don’t understand, things that don’t seem fair, but you have to know that God will not mismanage your life. He will not allow hardships and bad breaks that don’t have any purpose. He doesn’t just sit back and say, “I can’t believe that just happened to you. Too bad.” He’s ordering your steps. Nothing happens without His permission. He’s promised that all things will work together for our good. Sure, there are things we don’t understand, things that don’t make sense. But if you stay in faith, don’t get bitter, and just keep doing the right thing, you’ll see it all come together in time. Today’s Scripture says to simply trust God and don’t try to figure out everything that happens along the way. If you try to figure out all the things that happen that don’t make sense, you’ll get confused and discouraged. Put it in God’s hands. “God, I believe that You have a purpose for this problem. When it all comes together, You will get the glory for it.”

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You are my God and that You are ordering my steps. Thank You that I can be free from trying to figure everything out on my own. I declare that I am in the palms of Your hands, and I am going to trust You from the bottom of my heart. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO

A warning is issued in 1 Peter 5:8—”Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

I know that a lion roars to intimidate and to bring fear, but I used to wonder what kind of fear the devil tries to instill in the believer. We must let the Bible interpret the Bible. We can’t base our interpretations on our denominational backgrounds or our experiences.

One day, I was reading Proverbs 19 when I came across verse 12: “The king’s wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.” Who is the king that this verse refers to? It is our Lord Jesus!

So when the devil goes about like a roaring lion, he is trying to impersonate the King. He is trying to make you feel as if God is angry with you. Every time you hear preaching that leaves you with a sense that God is angry with you, guess what? You have just been roared at!

But know this, beloved: God will NEVER be angry with you ever again. He only has to tell us this, but He wanted us to be so sure that He swore in His Word that He would never be angry with us again.

Today’s verses are from Isaiah 54, which is right after the famous messianic chapter of the sufferings of Christ in Isaiah 53. Therefore, Isaiah 54 is spelling out the triumphs and spoils of His sufferings.

Do you know why God will never be angry with us again? It is because of what Christ has accomplished for us! On the cross, God poured out all His anger on the body of His Son. Jesus exhausted all the fiery indignation of a holy God against all our sins, and when all of God’s judgment of our sins had been completely exhausted, He shouted, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

And because our sins have already been punished, God, who is a holy and just God, will not punish us today when we believe in what Christ has done. God’s holiness is now on your side. His righteousness is now for you, not against you. You are His beloved, in whom He is well pleased because of Jesus’ finished work!

The next time the devil tries to rob you of your sense of being beloved by making you think that God is angry with you, just ignore him. Ignore him when he says, “How can you call yourself a Christian?”

You are a righteous, accepted, and beloved child of God! When you believe this, you will have the confidence to face every challenge with boldness, knowing that you have God’s unmerited favor on your side!