His protection and covering over us is all-encompassing!

Gospel Corner

09/08/25

Joel Osteen Ministries

Today’s Word
Today’s Scripture
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 29:11, KJV

Planned Long Ago
In life there are times when it looks as though our opponents—the sickness, the depression, the financial loss—are getting the best of us. It’s easy to get discouraged. You can go through life fighting everything that doesn’t go your way, being worried, negative, and upset. Or you can stay in peace, knowing that God is directing your steps, even the detours and the dead ends. You have to remind yourself that the end has been set by God.

When it feels as though you’re far behind, outnumbered, outsized, and outclassed, instead of being discouraged, have a new perspective. It’s not the end. The person who betrayed you didn’t stop God’s plan. The setback didn’t change His ending. The negatives in your life don’t have that kind of power. It just means you’re about to see a major comeback. At any moment things are going to shift in your favor. A good break, a healing, a promotion, or a restoration is coming. God has the final say. He has already established the end and will fulfill His purpose.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that in the midst of a very insecure world that I can rest in the security of knowing that my end has been set. Thank You for Your plans for my life, plans that are full of hope and an abundant future. I believe that You make everything work out at the right time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO

I want to share with you a beautiful truth from the story of Gideon in Judges 6. Even after Gideon had God’s promise to “go in this might of yours” and save Israel, he was still fearful and unconvinced. He asked for a sign to confirm that he was indeed speaking to the Lord.

Gideon then presented an offering to the Lord, and fire rose out of the rock to consume the offering. Then our Lord Jesus disappeared. Only at that moment did Gideon’s lightning-fast mind perceive that he had indeed been speaking with the Lord Himself. He gasped, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face” (Judg. 6:22).

Gideon began to panic, because in those days, they believed that if they saw God face to face, they would die. But before Gideon could frighten himself any further, the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die” (Judg. 6:23, boldface mine). So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it “The-LORD-Is-Peace” (Judg. 6:24), or in Hebrew, Jehovah Shalom. This is the first time the name Jehovah Shalom appears in the Bible, and the word that goes with this name is “you shall not die.”

According to the Strong’s Concordance, the word shalom refers to completeness, safety, soundness, welfare, health, and supply. It also refers to peace, quiet, tranquility, and contentment, as well as friendship in human relationships and with God in a covenant relationship.

So if you think that Jehovah Shalom just gives you peace of mind, you are wrong. When you receive the Lord as Jehovah Shalom in your life, you are receiving so much more!

My dear friends, I believe with all my heart that the Lord wants to speak to you today about the world we live in. Like Gideon, we may be surrounded by bad news, like news of diseases such as Ebola and Zika, of bomb attacks, of random shootings, of hijackings, of missile strikes, and of fatal accidents.

But God has already foreseen the problems that we will face in this day and age, and His protection and covering over us is all-encompassing!