God changes seasons to push us into supernatural provision, new opportunities, new growth, and new relationships.

07/03/25

Gospel Corner

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
Today’s Word

Today’s Scripture
Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land; and the children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.
Joshua 5:12, NKJV

Don’t Stay Where God Was.
When God brought two million Israelites out of slavery, they were in the desert headed toward the Promised Land with nothing to eat. So every morning for forty years, God gave them manna, something like bread that formed on the ground. They counted on this supernatural provision. But after the first time they ate food from the Promised Land, the manna ceased. Imagine their concern the next morning when there’s no manna. But the manna ceasing was a necessary ending to push them into the land of abundance He had for them. They were satisfied to live off the manna for the rest of their lives, but God was not satisfied.

When something comes to an end, when what’s worked in the past doesn’t work anymore, don’t stay where God was. Go to where God is; go into the new thing. Be grateful for the good season you had with a friend, for the opportunity, for the provision, but don’t get stuck in the old. God changes seasons to push us into supernatural provision, new opportunities, new growth, and new relationships.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for all the ways You provide for me every day. Thank You that when one of those provisions ceases, You are already doing a new thing and lining up the next level. I believe that You change seasons, that You’re never in the past, and that You are leading me to where You are. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

I heard a story of a minister from Oregon who was assigned to provide counseling in a state mental institution. His first assignment was to a padded cell that housed deranged, barely clothed patients. He couldn’t even talk to the inmates, let alone counsel them—the only responses he got were groans, moans, and demonic laughter.

Then the Holy Spirit prompted him to sit in the middle of the room and for a full hour just sing the famous children’s hymn that goes, “Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; they are weak, but He is strong.”

Nothing happened at the end of that first day, but for weeks he persisted to sing the same melody with greater conviction each time: “Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves me! The Bible tells me so.”

As the days passed, the patients began singing with him one by one. Amazingly, by the end of the first month, thirty-six of the severely ill patients were transferred from the high-dependency ward to a self-care ward. Within a year, all but two were discharged from the mental institution.

As one of the best-known and loved hymns of all time, this hymn’s ongoing popularity lies in its succinct elegance in unveiling Jesus’ heart. It beckons one to recognize that no matter what challenges, failures, and misdeeds one might be dealing with, the love of Jesus remains a constant.

“Jesus loves me! This I know.”

How so?

“For the Bible tells me so.”

So simple, yet so powerful.

Whether you feel it or not, Jesus’ constant love for you rests in the truth and on the foundation of His unchanging Word. It proclaims that His love for you and me is based utterly and completely on Him—on His promises, His work, and His grace.

Today, let healing and rest for your soul come as you allow your heart to be anchored on this truth.