Gospel Corner

01/07/25

Joel Osteen Ministries
Today’s Word
Today’s Scripture

Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor; only fools insist on quarreling.
Proverbs 20:3, NLT

Don’t Take the Bait.
It’s easy to get into conflict with others, to be offended and upset by what they say or do, and to want to pay people back. But you’re not supposed to engage in every conflict, and it’s not your job to straighten them out. Don’t fight battles that are not between you and your destiny. Most of the things we face are simply distractions. The best thing you can do is ignore it, don’t give it the time of day.

Let God fight your battles. Let God be your vindicator.

When something comes against you, you need to ask yourself, “Is this a battle worth fighting or is it simply a distraction?” You have to stay focused. Avoiding a fight, not taking the bait, not being drawn into the conflict takes your face being set. It takes discipline to say, “I’m not going to respond. I’m not going to sink down to their level and waste my time and energy. I have a destiny to fulfill.” Keep honoring God, being your best, and He’ll get you to where you’re supposed to be.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for calling me to be a person marked by honor. Help me to know when to avoid a fight as well as the right way and the right time to quietly and calmly address my differences with others. I want to do it Your way and leave it to You to fight my battles. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Today’s scripture reading, Ephesians 1:6–7, tells us that we are accepted in Christ, the Beloved. And because we are in Christ, we are well pleasing to God!

But Pastor Prince, I have done nothing to make myself well pleasing to God!

Neither did Jesus. In Mark 1: 9–11, God called Jesus His beloved and said that He was well pleasing before He had even performed one miracle or act of service for Him.

You see, Jesus is well pleasing to His Father not because of what He has done, but because of who He is. Did you get that? If not, please read the last sentence again.

Jesus didn’t have to do anything or accomplish anything before He was considered beloved and pleasing to the Father. The good news for you and me today is that our Father in heaven has “made us accepted in the Beloved,” and “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:6–7).

This is true for any believer of Jesus. The moment you received Him into your life, God the Father made you accepted in the Beloved.8

We know that the word “Beloved” here is in reference to Jesus. So why didn’t God just say “accepted in Jesus Christ”?

That is because God wants you to be conscious that you are now part of the family and you are beloved to Him the same way that Jesus is. Furthermore, the word “accepted” in the original Greek is a word far richer in meaning than the English translation can convey. It’s the word charitoo, and it means “highly favored.” This word is used only one other time in the Bible, when angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored [charitoo] one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” (Luke 1:28).

So you and I are not just accepted in the Beloved, which is already fantastic, but we are more precisely highly favored in the Beloved, Jesus Christ. In fact, the Greek scholar Thayer says that charitoo also means we are surrounded by favor.

That’s why in my church we like to proclaim and declare that we are highly favored, greatly blessed, and deeply loved. It’s a powerful declaration and an important reminder that you are not alone and left to fend for yourself in life. You have a Father in heaven who loves you, favors you, protects you, and watches over you and all your loved ones.

Gospel Corner

30/06/25

In preaching grace over the years, some people have asked me this: “Don’t you think that our performance is important?” I tell them that our performance is important, absolutely. But I also tell them that our performance as husbands, wives, parents, students, employees, and children of God is a result of believing that we are righteous by faith.

I say this over and over again, and I will never grow tired of saying it: Right living is a result of right believing.

There are a lot of people preaching and focusing on right living. For them, right living is always about becoming more holy, fearing God more, doing more, praying more, reading the Bible more, serving in church more or giving more money to help the needy. But my friend, when you focus on external behavior alone, you are only dealing with superficial elements.

While strong preaching on holiness may have a temporal effect on people’s behavior, it will not bring about lasting and permanent change. Christianity is not about behavior modification. It is about inward heart transformation.

Get hold of good teachings that are full of Jesus and righteousness by faith in Him. When you are anchored on these unshakable foundations, your outward behavior will come in line with His Word and you will begin to produce the fruits of righteousness!

Just in case there is any misunderstanding, let me state this clearly in black and white: I, Joseph Prince, hate sin and wrong living. As a pastor of a local church for more than two decades now, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of sin. It destroys marriages, breaks up families, brings diseases, and basically tears a person apart from the inside out.

I am on the same side as those who preach against sin and teach on the need to live right. However, where I differ is that I believe that the solution to stopping sin is not found in focusing on right living. It is found in right believing.

Did you know that the Bible tells us why believers lack qualities of right living like self-control, perseverance, and brotherly kindness? It says in 2 Peter 1:5–9, “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.”

Wow! This verse is essentially telling us that the reason someone does not manifest these qualities of right living is that he has forgotten that all his sins have been forgiven and that he is righteous by faith in Jesus. It isn’t something he believes and is conscious of, and it affects his behavior.

So start believing right, and you will live right! If you don’t see right living in a particular area of your life—perhaps you are struggling with a secret addiction—check what you believe in that area. Somewhere along the way, you have believed a lie.

But here’s the good news: When you start seeing and believing that you are righteous in Christ, when you start confessing your righteousness through Jesus in that area, your breakthrough is just around the corner.

Gospel Corner

28/06/25

Joel Osteen Ministries

Today’s Word

Today’s Scripture
“Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel.’”
Ezekiel 37:12, NLT

The Breath of God
The Israelites who had been taken into exile in Babylon complained about how big their obstacles were and how they would never make it back to their homeland. They said, “We’re just dead bones and our hope is gone.” But God gave the prophet Ezekiel a vision of a valley filled with dry bones. He asked Ezekiel, “Do you believe these dead bones can live?” Ezekiel could have said, “God, that’s impossible. They’re just bones.” But instead he said, “Yes, Lord, I believe.” Then he spoke to the bones, and those bones suddenly joined together and morphed into people. God breathed life into them, and they stood up like a vast army. It was the promise of the Israelites being restored to their homes.

You may have dreams you’ve buried, things you were believing for that you think are dead. God is saying, “I’m about to open up your graves and bring those things back to life.” He’s about to breathe new life into your health, your finances, your children, your dreams. Things are going to come together that you thought were impossible.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that You have the power to breathe life into the things that seem dead in my life. Thank You that You are challenging me to believe again, to believe for more. I believe that as I speak words of faith, You will make things happen that I could never make happen. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO

After I had preached a message on the Father’s love in my church, a young man who had been involved in many gang fights and had been in and out of prison numerous times came forward to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He looked straight at the youth pastor and asked him somberly, “Can God forgive me for all the mistakes I’ve made?”

The youth pastor affirmed him, saying, “The moment you came forward to receive Jesus into your life, your Father in heaven forgave you of all your sins and made you His child. Right now, that’s who you are—His beloved child.”

My friend, no matter how many times you have failed, how many mistakes you have made, and how terrible you think your sins are, the cleansing power and blood of your Savior, Jesus Christ, is greater than them all.

God made this promise to you in His Word: “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool” (Isa. 1:18 NLT).

That’s the power of the cross in your life. The moment you believe in Christ, all your sins are washed away once and for all and you are made as white as snow.

Have you seen how snow dazzles in the sunlight? That’s how your Father in heaven sees you right now, clothed with the gleaming robe of righteousness.

But Pastor Prince, what have I done to deserve this robe of righteousness?

Consider the prodigal son. What did the son do to deserve the father’s embrace or the best robe that the father commanded his hired servants to bring for him (Luke 15:22)? Absolutely nothing.

The “best robe” is a picture of the robe of righteousness that your heavenly Father clothed you with when you received Jesus. This robe of righteousness is a free gift. You cannot earn it, work for it, or merit it. That is why everything we hear about what the father did to welcome his son home is a picture of our heavenly Father’s amazing and unconditional grace.

Our part is to just believe in His goodness and wholeheartedly receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness from Him to reign victoriously over every area of defeat in our lives.

Gospel Corner

27/06/25

Today’s Word
Today’s Scripture
“Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14, NLT

You’re Not Limited by Your Background.
Most of the greatest leaders in the Bible didn’t come from prominence. Esther was a Jewish orphan girl who had been taken into exile and was living in Persia. All the odds were against her ever doing anything significant, but God caused things to fall into place and she became the queen of King Xerxes. It was not just for her sake, though. She was strategically put there to help save the Israelites from a plot to destroy them.

God is raising up a new generation of Esthers. It’s not going to happen just because of your talent, your ability, or your background. It’s the favor of God. It’s His divine purpose. Your part is to honor Him, to keep Him first place.

When you’re being your best where you are, you’re proving to God that He can trust you. When you’re being faithful, determined, developing your skills, and helping others, God will take you higher than you’ve imagined.

Stir your faith up, believe big, pray bold prayers, and dream God-sized dreams. He’s going to put you in strategic positions to affect the culture.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that You are Almighty God and the power of Your favor is working in my life. Thank You for the opportunities You will bring my way to step into ‘such a time as this’ moments and fulfill my purpose. I declare that I will use Your favor to advance Your kingdom. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

SECTION TWO

God is interested in your success. Even if you are not the swiftest, strongest, wisest, most knowledgeable, and most skillful in the natural, God can still bless you with good success when you depend on His grace.

God’s way is completely opposite from the world’s way. According to 1 Corinthians 1:26, “not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” Isn’t it fascinating to discover that while the world looks favorably upon the wise, mighty, and noble, God does not?

Let’s see in the next verse what God chooses instead: “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.” In His hands of grace, the foolish and weak things become even wiser and mightier than the wise and mighty things of the world!

This is something I have experienced personally. In high school, I was a stutterer. I watched the other kids talking and reading aloud in class effortlessly while I had serious trouble getting words out of my mouth.

Honestly, if you had told me then that I would be preaching to thousands of people every week, I would have run for cover under the table and said, “Get thee behind me, Satan!” If there was an area anyone who knew me back then believed I would fail in, it would have to be public speaking. But God looked down and said, “I am going to make a preacher out of this boy.”

One day, when I was tired of being miserable, I told the Lord, “Lord, I don’t have much to give You, but whatever I have I give You.” I remember how my voice was the thing that embarrassed me the most, so I said, “Lord, I give You my voice.” When I said that, I pitied Him for getting someone like me who had so many weaknesses.

To cut a long story short, after I gave all my weaknesses to the Lord, something supernatural happened. I stopped being conscious of my stuttering and it supernaturally disappeared. In the area of my weakness, God supplied His strength.

About two years ago, one of the teachers from my high school days came to my church and sat in one of the services I was preaching in. After the service, she wrote me a note that said, “I see a miracle. This must be God!”

Why does the Lord choose foolish and weak things to confound the wise and mighty things of this world? It’s so that “no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:29). God chooses the things that are weak in the natural so that no man can boast of his own ability—all glory redounds to the Lord.

My friend, it is those who are proud and who depend on their human strength that God cannot use. So when you look at yourself and see only weaknesses, depend on God’s unmerited favor and know that God can and will use you!

Gospel Corner

26/06/25

Joel Osteen Ministries
Today’s Word
Today’s Scripture
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.”
Luke 6:38, NIV

Give It Away
None of us has gotten to where we are by ourselves. Somebody encouraged you, taught you, brought you to church, believed in you, took a chance and gave you a position, prayed for you. They were instrumental in you being where you are, so why don’t you reach out and help somebody else? Give away what’s been given to you.

Sometimes we live ingrown, focused on ourselves. We’re grateful, we thank God for what He’s done, but that’s not going to sustain His blessings in our life. The real test is, are you taking the time to encourage someone? Are you going out of your way to be good to people? Are you strengthening others?

Here’s the key: As long as you keep the encouragement flowing, being good to people, helping them overcome, comforting them, then the blessings are going to keep coming. The healing is going to keep coming, the joy, the fulfillment, the right people. As you give away what God has given you, as you strengthen others, you will always have the “good measure” you need.
A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for being the God of infinite grace who always exceeds my greatest expectations. Thank You that as I give freely of myself to others, You will bless me to the point of overflowing. I declare that I will give away what You have given to me and bless others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

There was a man in the Bible by the name of Jabez. His name was rather unfortunate. It means “sorrow” because his mother “bore him in pain” (1 Chron. 4:9). What a name to have!

But Jabez cried out to God, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” (1 Chron. 4:10).

Some preachers claim that believers should not pray “selfish” prayers for themselves to be blessed. Jabez’ prayer would probably fall under their definition of a “selfish prayer” as it was all about him asking God to bless him, enlarge his territory, be with him, and protect him.

But God didn’t reprimand Jabez for asking Him for these blessings. Without any fanfare, the Bible in the very same verse simply records that “God granted him what he requested.”

That was all. No drama, no long list of what Jabez had to do or not do. It’s really that simple. God heard his prayer and granted his request! No rebuke, no instructions, no “Jabez, if you want Me to bless you, you must first do this.”

No, God honored the man’s faith and turned his sorrow into joy and his pain into blessings—all because he had an unshakable confidence in how good God is and asked big!

My friend, have a good opinion of God. He is not out to get you. He loves you and desires to unleash His favor into every area of your life. He loves it when you call upon Him. And He promised that He would answer when you do.

Just see Him declaring to you Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Could it be that we are not seeing many breakthroughs because we have made asking God for big things a taboo with our religious and legalistic rhetoric? Could it be that we are just not seeing many blessings because we have not been asking God and seeking Him with a confident expectation of good?

My friend, it gives your heavenly Father great joy when you ask Him. It’s His good pleasure to bless you as well as your family (Luke 12:32). Stop being held back by erroneous beliefs about God, and start asking Him for whatever is on your heart today!

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