Don’t sit on the sidelines of life intimidated, thinking you’re unqualified. Put your life, your dreams, your goals, and your talent into My hands and let Me multiply it.”

Gospel Corner

06/12/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
Today’s Word

Today’s Scripture
Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
Matthew 14:16–17, NIV

GIVE WHAT YOU HAVE
Thousands of hungry people out in the middle of nowhere, and Jesus tells His disciples to give them something to eat. Impossible. But God will never ask you to do something and then not give you the ability to do it. When Jesus heard the disciples’ excuses, He said, in effect, “You’ve told me all about what you don’t have. All I want to know is what you do have. Don’t sit on the sidelines of life intimidated, thinking you’re unqualified. Put your life, your dreams, your goals, and your talent into My hands and let Me multiply it.”

Compared to what you’re facing now—the financial difficulty, the medical problem, or the size of your dreams—what you have may seem small. You could easily be intimidated. But God is saying, “Just give Me what you have.” If you be the best you can be right where you are, living with confidence, believing that God is breathing in your direction, then God will do for you what He did for the hungry crowd. He will take the little and turn it into much.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that I can give You my dreams and goals, and You will do something great with them. Thank You that You take the loaves and the fishes in my life and multiply them into something extraordinary. I gladly put my gifts and resources in Your hands today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

SECTION TWO

My dear reader, today you can experience God’s presence in your life. Say to yourself, “The Lord is with me and I have His favor, blessings, and protection.”

Sense His shadow covering you. His shadow is a picture of nearness. You are not trying to get into the secret place; you are already there in Christ. In Christ, you can’t get any closer to God.

In the Old Testament, God showed Moses, the great patriarch, only His back parts (Exod. 33:22–23). That’s the old covenant—because of man’s failure, God was always departing and the children of Israel only saw His back.

The picture of the new covenant is God sending His only Son, Jesus Christ. It is the picture of the father running toward the prodigal son in spite of his failures. Under the new covenant, we are seated with our heavenly Father in Christ and we see the smile on His face! That is how close you are to God today.

So even if your feelings tell you that God is a million miles away, learn to trust His Word over your feelings. All you need to do is to utter the words “Father” or “Abba,” and immediately you will sense that He is closer than your own breath.

In the same way, even when you don’t seem to feel His presence, you can trust in Him. Trust doesn’t mean that there will be no butterflies in your stomach. Trust means that even though you have the butterflies, you still act on God’s Word.

Whatever it is you are afraid of doing, do it afraid while keeping your trust in the Lord. There are people who are afraid to leave their house, fly on a plane, pursue a new career, start a new friendship, volunteer in a ministry, visit a care group in church, or even show up for work.

Beloved, don’t let fear rule your life. If you’re thinking of embarking on something, most certainly, be led by the Spirit, seek wise counsel, count the cost, and make responsible decisions in your situation. Just don’t allow the butterflies in your stomach to dictate your life.

When you say to the Lord, “In You I trust,” it doesn’t mean you instantly stop feeling any fear. Trust means choosing to act on God’s Word in spite of the fear.

For More Information Or Advert Placement, contact Shina On +2348025681978