It may be happening all around you, but you have an advantage. God has a hedge of protection around you and your family.

Gospel Corner

14/05/25

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
Today’s Word

Today’s Scripture
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
Psalm 91:7, NIV

It Will Not Come Near
When God breathed His life into you, He set you apart. He marked you for favor, marked you for blessing, marked you to stand out. What will defeat others won’t be able to defeat you. That’s why you don’t have to live worried about your future, worried about your safety, worried about your children, thinking, “There’s so much that can go wrong these days, so much violence in the world.” It may be happening all around you, but you have an advantage. God has a hedge of protection around you and your family. For the enemy to get to you, He has to get permission from God. That’s not saying negative things will never happen, but it is saying you are protected by the One who controls it all. God has the final say. If He allows it, He’s going to turn it around and use it for your good.

Dare to pray bold prayers. Believe for unusual favor. Take the limits off God. You’ve been set apart. You can expect things to happen for you that may not happen for someone else.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that You are the Almighty God who has put a hedge of protection around my life that the enemy cannot cross. Thank You that I am Yours, and You have marked my life with Your favor. I declare that I will not live worried but will walk in peace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

SECTION TWO

Did you know that God sees grace (unmerited favor) and truth as one and the same thing? Notice in John 1:17 that truth is on the same side as God’s unmerited favor and both grace (unmerited favor) and truth came through Jesus Christ.

When I did a study of this verse in its original Greek, I found out that “grace and truth” are actually referred to as a singular unit, since they are followed by the singular verb translated as “came.” In other words, in God’s eyes, grace and truth are synonymous—unmerited favor is truth and truth is unmerited favor.

Sometimes, people tell me things like, “Well, it’s good that you preach grace, but we also have to tell people about truth.” This makes it seem as though grace and truth are two different things when, in fact, they are one and the same. You cannot separate truth from grace and grace from truth as they are both embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.

In fact, just a few verses before this, John 1:14, referring to the person of Jesus, says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace [unmerited favor] and truth.”

Grace and truth came together through the person and ministry of Jesus. Grace is not a doctrine or teaching. Grace is a Person.

This is contrasted with the old covenant of law that was given through Moses on Mount Sinai. We can see that God is very precise in dealing with the two covenants and does not mix them together.

Grace is grace and law is law. Grace came by Jesus whereas the law was given through Moses.

Jesus didn’t come to give us more laws. He came to give us His unmerited favor, which is His truth! It would be of immense profit to you to keep in mind that every time you read the word “grace” in the Bible, you translate it mentally as “unmerited favor,” because that is what it is.

My friend, “grace came.” It is one thing to give, but it is another thing to come. You see, I could send a DVD of my sermon to you instead of coming to you. But if I come to you, it’s personal.

The law was given by Moses, but grace came by Jesus Christ. Every system of morality is about man trying to reach God with his discipline and good works, but in Christianity, God came down to where we were to lift us up to where He is!