JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
For she kept saying to herself, If I only touch His garment, I shall be restored to health.
Matthew 9:21, AMPC

GOSPEL CORNER.

13/09/24

DELETE THE OLD STORY
In Mark 5, a lady had been sick for twelve years, spent all her money going to many doctors, but nothing helped. Her story was: “This sickness is permanent. There’s nothing else I can do.” But then she heard that Jesus was passing through her town. Despite how she felt, despite the circumstances and all she’d been told, she deleted her old story and started telling herself a new story. She said, “When I touch His garments, I’m going to be healed.” Faith began to rise in her heart. She kept saying to herself, “Healing is coming.” Pressing through the crowd, she touched His robe and was healed instantly.

It’s easy to let defeated thoughts, “can’t do it” thoughts, “it’s never going to work out” thoughts, play in your mind. You have to say, “No, I’m deleting this story. I will be the exception. I will get well. I will see my family restored. I will break this addiction. I will accomplish my dream.” Give God something to work with. You can’t have an old story and see the new things He wants to do.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that I have the power to delete the thoughts that keep me trapped in an old story of defeat. Thank You that my faith can open the way for You to do amazing things and write a new story. I am reaching out and touching You by faith today, knowing that victory will be mine. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

I remember reading about an art competition where the theme given was “peace.” The artist who most effectively depicted peace in his artwork would win the competition. The artists gathered their paints, canvases, and brushes and started creating their masterpieces.

When the time came to judge the artworks, the judges were impressed by the various scenes of tranquility illustrated by the artists. There was a majestic piece capturing the brilliance of the sun setting over lush greenery, one that depicted a serene landscape of moonlit hills, and another evocative piece that showed a lone man walking leisurely through a rustic paddy field.

Then, the judges came upon a peculiar piece that looked almost horrifying and perhaps even ugly to some. It was the very antithesis of every other piece that the judges had seen. It was a wild cacophony of violent colors and the aggression with which the artist had lashed his brush against the canvas was obvious.

It depicted a raging storm where the ocean waves were swollen to menacing heights and slamming against the craggy edges of a cliff with thunderous force. Lightning zigzagged across the blackened sky and the branches of the single tree that was perched atop the cliff were all swept to the side by the force of the gale. Now, how could this picture be the epitome of peace?

Yet, the judges unanimously awarded the first prize to the artist who painted the turbulent storm. While the results initially appeared to be appalling, the judges’ decision immediately became clear once you give the winning canvas a closer look.

Hidden in a crevice in the cliff is a family of eagles snug in their nest. The mother eagle faces the blustering winds, but her young chicks are oblivious to the storm and have dozed off under the shelter of her wings.

Now, that’s the kind of peace that Jesus gives to you and me! He gives us peace, security, covering, and protection even in the midst of a storm.

The psalmist describes this beautifully: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. . . . He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge.”

There is no safer place than under the protective shelter of your Savior’s wings. It does not matter what circumstances may be raging around you. You can cry to the Lord for His unmerited favor, as David did in Psalm 57:1—”Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by.”

The New American Standard Bible says, “Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by.”

What blessed assurance we can have today, knowing that even if destruction rages around us, we can take refuge in the Lord.

GOSPEL CORNER

12/09/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
“Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them.”
Isaiah 3:10, NKJV

A Word of Encouragement
Everyone in your life is fighting a battle. They’re dealing with something. They may not show it, but there’s a load they’re carrying. Thoughts are telling them that it’s not going to work out. It is always good to pray for others, but today’s Scripture also says, “Say to the righteous that it’s going to work out. Everything’s going to be okay.” Just give a word of encouragement when they’re under a heavy load. Just let them know that you care, remind them that God is still on the throne. You don’t have to have all the answers to their problems.

It’s easy to feel intimidated because sometimes the situation is so complicated. Different people may be involved from very different backgrounds, and you’re not sure what to tell them about what they are going through. But you don’t have to solve the problem; that’s God’s job. Your part is to just nourish their soul and say, “I care about you. I’m standing with you. You’re going to make it.” Those kind words are what put people back on their feet.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You for Your hand of blessing in my life. I ask You to work through me and help me to speak kind words, offer compliments, give encouragement, and lift up those around me. Help me to listen and to bring Your healing presence into others’ lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Bartimaeus was a blind beggar at the gate of Jericho. Talk about being insignificant. Not only was he just another beggar in a place probably swarming with them, he didn’t even have a real name—”Bartimaeus” merely means “son of Timaeus”!

And yet Jesus, the King of heaven and the incarnate Son of God, stopped in His tracks when this blind, nameless, and often-ignored beggar called out to Him. Jesus heard him and had compassion on him, and responded to his need. He treated Bartimaeus with respect, empathized with the desire of his heart, and set him free to see again.

Like Bartimaeus, your need is your qualification for His miracle. And when it comes to your need, it is NEVER too insignificant to Jesus!

11/09/24

GOSPEL CORNER

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“LORD, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.”
2 Chronicles 20:6, NIV

HOW GREAT IS HE?
Many times when the people faced a big challenge in the Old Testament, they started their prayer by talking about the greatness of God. In today’s Scripture, King Jehoshaphat had three armies surrounding Judah. He gathered the people at the city square in Jerusalem to seek God. He didn’t say, “God, where are You? We’re about to be captured.” He said, “Lord, You alone are God. You are the ruler of the nations. You are powerful and mighty. No one can stand against you. We remember how you brought us through war, through famine, through disease. Now we’re asking you, O great God, to deliver us from these mighty armies.” When you remind yourself of who you’re dealing with, you won’t pray weak prayers. You’ll pray boldly. You’ll ask God to do the impossible, what seems unlikely. Those are prayers that get God’s attention. The people of Judah didn’t even have to fight. The enemy armies turned on each other and defeated themselves.

Where will you be in ten years if you do as Jehoshaphat did and start praying bold prayers?

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You are the great God who is in Heaven, the ruler of the nations, and You are fighting my battles. Thank You for how You go beyond my requests and exceed my expectations. I believe that You will do exceedingly abundantly above all that I ask or think. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

The Lord told me once, “Being under grace means being constantly under My supply. It means being conscious not of the need, demand, or crisis, but of My supply to you.”

My friend, the essence of grace is supply. See yourself under His grace by seeing yourself under the waterfall of His supply.

Do you need healing for your body today? See the area of affliction surrounded by His power to heal and His resurrection life!

Beloved, because of the cross, God’s grace is always supplying healing, protection, wisdom, and provision to you. And the more you are conscious of it, the more you will walk in it!

10/09/24

GOSPEL CORNER

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
They answered Joshua, “We will do whatever you command us, and we will go wherever you send us.”
Joshua 1:16, NLT

TAKE YOUR PROMISED LAND
When God brought the Israelites out of slavery and took them to the Promised Land, He promised that all they had to do was go in and take the land. But the Israelites were too afraid of the people in the land and turned away. They spent forty years in the desert running from things that God promised they could conquer. The next generation of Israelites came back to the Promised Land, saw the same giants and fortified cities, but had a different attitude. They refused to spend their lives wandering in the desert. They declared to Joshua that they would do whatever he commanded, face the opposition, and take the same land their parents could have had.

Don’t be like the Israelites and spend years of your life running from things God has already given you victory over. You may need to confront pride, confront a bad attitude, or confront compromise. When you face your fears, defeat bad habits, or forgive the wrongs and hurts others have caused, you will enter your promised land. The victory is already yours.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that You are the Most High God and that no giant or stronghold is too great for You. Thank You that You are leading me into my promised land as I confront and face areas of my life that have held me back. Help me to be bold to take my promised land. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Ephesians 2:4–7 tells us that by God’s unmerited favor, we are seated together with Christ at the Father’s right hand. To be seated in Christ is to rest, to trust in Him, and to receive everything our beautiful Savior has accomplished on our behalf.

My friend, God wants us to take the position of relying on Jesus for good success in every area of our lives, instead of relying on our good works and human efforts to achieve success. What a blessing it is to be in this position of dependence on our Savior!

instead of looking at Jesus,

believers are misled by the devil into looking at themselves. For thousands of years, the devil’s strategy has not changed. He is a master at accusing you, pointing out all your flaws, weaknesses, mistakes, and blemishes. He will keep on reminding you of your past failures and use condemnation to perpetuate the cycle of defeat in your life.

When the apostle Paul found himself sinking into self-occupation, he became depressed and cried out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me?” (Rom. 7:24). In the very next verse, he sees God’s solution and says, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Likewise, beloved, it’s time for you to step out from being self-conscious and self-occupied, and begin to be Christ-occupied instead.

Today, you should no longer be asking yourself, “Am I pleasing to God?” Instead, ask, “Is Christ pleasing to God?” Because as Christ is, so are you in this world (1 John 4:17).

The old covenant of law is all about you, but the new covenant of grace is all about Jesus! The law places the demand on you to perform and makes you self-conscious, whereas grace places the demand on Jesus and makes you Jesus-conscious.

Can you imagine a young child growing up and always wondering in his heart, “Am I pleasing to Daddy? Am I pleasing to Mummy? Do Daddy and Mummy accept me?” This child will grow up emotionally warped if he does not have the security and assurance of his parents’ love and acceptance.

That is why your loving heavenly Father wants you rooted, established, and anchored in His unwavering love for you. He demonstrated His love for you when He sent Jesus to become your sin on the cross so that you can become His righteousness.

Our part today is to turn away from ourselves and to look at Jesus!

GOSPEL CORNER

09/09/24

Beloved, you reign in life through Jesus Christ just by receiving two things from Him: the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness (Rom. 5:17). God’s way is not about achieving, but about receiving. But many Christians continue to live based on the world’s system of achievement.

The world’s system of success is built on the twin pillars of self-effort and diligence. The world tells you that the more you do, the harder you work, and the more hours you put in, the more success you will achieve.

The world’s way is to nag you to work harder, to forget about attending church on Sundays, to spend less time with your family, and to spend more time in the office working through the nights, weekends, and holidays. I’m sure you’ve heard that you need to “pay the price,” after all, “no pain, no gain,” right?

Yet, God’s way is not for us to be blessed by our own efforts. You cannot earn God’s blessings by your performance.

God’s blessings are based entirely on His grace. His blessings over your life are undeserved, unearned, and unmerited.

In other words, there is nothing you can do to deserve His blessings, for they are based entirely on receiving Jesus, and through His finished work, the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.

God wants us to stop trying to achieve and to begin receiving the favor, blessings, and healing that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. When He hung on the cross some two thousand years ago, He cried out with a loud voice, “It is finished!”

Everything you and I require to reign in life was accomplished at Calvary on our behalf. That’s why we call what Jesus did on the cross His “finished work.”

He finished it. He completed it. It is done!

My friend, the only thing that works is the finished work. So stop trying to do what’s already done. Stop doing and start receiving what Jesus has done. Cease all striving and painful laboring to achieve your goals in your own strength and wisdom.

Choose instead to see that Jesus has already finished the work. All you need in this life He has already provided for you through the cross. Rest in His unmerited favor and love for you.

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GOSPEL CORNER

08/09/24

As a believer, have you ever been plagued by thoughts of how you haven’t been good enough or haven’t done enough to deserve God’s blessings? That your imperfection disqualifies you from receiving anything good from God?

If you’ve been struggling with these thoughts, I want you to read and reread today’s scripture, Hebrews 10:12, 14, and let the verses saturate your heart, mind, and conscience. Let the knowledge of how you are completely forgiven and forever perfected by Jesus’ finished work at the cross sink in.

You are not going to be forgiven and perfected one day through all your hard work. No, my friend, the good news is, you already are forgiven and perfected—once and for all time—through Jesus’ sacrifice.

And how long is forever? I checked the original Greek word for forever in the verse and guess what? “Forever” means forever! You have been totally forgiven and perfected forever by Jesus’ cleansing blood, not by the blood of animal sacrifices that can never take away sins.

Pastor Prince, how can I be fully assured that all my sins have already been forgiven?

Good question! Notice that after Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice and payment for all our sins, He “sat down” at the Father’s right hand. Jesus sat down to demonstrate to us that the work is indeed finished!

Under the old covenant, the priest who served in the tabernacle of Moses never sat down, but “stands ministering daily” because his work could never be finished. The blood of bulls and goats could “never take away sins” (Heb. 10:11).

Interestingly, in the holy place of the tabernacle of Moses, there was not a single piece of furniture prepared for the priest to sit on. You would not find a single chair in the holy place. You would find the altar of incense, the menorah, and even a table of showbread, but not chairs. This was because the work of the priest was never finished. Only Jesus’ work is a finished work.

My friend, you can rest easy in your heart and mind today. You can relax because Jesus has finished the work. In God’s eyes, you are forever perfect, spotless, and washed whiter than snow by the precious, eternal blood of His Son. And it’s permanent!

Your part is simply to believe and receive all that Jesus has done for you. That’s how you reign in life over sin, addictions, and whatever the enemy throws at you. That’s how you come up tops in all of life’s challenges!

GOSPEL CORNER

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

07/09/24

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”
Luke 19:5, NLT

THE SECRET TO A CHANGED LIFE
Zacchaeus was the despised chief tax collector in the region, known for cheating people and called a notorious sinner. Yet when Jesus could have spent time with any of the local religious leaders, He chose Zacchaeus, which they found disgusting. Religion says, “He’s too bad. He’s scum. Stay away.” Sometimes religion portrays an image of God where you can’t measure up, and it uses guilt and your feelings of unworthiness to try to get you to live right. But God says, “I gladly welcome Zacchaeus. What he has done does not cancel out My mercy.”

When Zacchaeus came to understand that God loved him unconditionally, even when he had made mistakes, he decided to change his ways and salvation came to him. Sometimes we think that if we tell people all they’re doing wrong and make them feel guilty, they’ll change. But condemnation doesn’t make them do better. It is when they hear about a God who shows mercy when they deserve judgment that they’ll change. The Scripture says, “It’s the goodness of God that leads to repentance.”

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You that even though You know everything about me, You still invite Yourself to come to my house for dinner and bring the gift of salvation. Thank You that it’s not about my performance, about being good enough, about being worthy, but it’s about Your love. Welcome to my house. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

The Bible says in 2 Peter 1:2, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” In the original Greek, it actually says, “through the knowledge of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

So God’s unmerited favor and His shalom-peace (health, provision, and total well-being) are multiplied in your life through the knowledge of JESUS. The more you know Jesus, the more you will be able to tap into the ever-flowing supply of His favor, healing, and provision!

Beloved, every answer you need, whether it has to do with your finances, health, career, or family life, is found in knowing more about Jesus in a personal and intimate way.

I pray that every day, as you study the Scriptures or listen to Christ-centered sermons, the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see more of Jesus—His beauty, His love and grace toward you, and His finished work at Calvary!