07/06/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
Ezekiel 37:3, NIV

DEAD BONES LIVE
The prophet Ezekiel had a vision of a valley filled with dry bones. In Ezekiel’s case, they represented the return of the people of Israel. But they also represent things in our lives that seem dead, dreams that didn’t work out, closed doors. When God asked Ezekiel if he believed the bones could live, He was saying, “What level of faith are you at?” Ezekiel answered back, “O Sovereign Lord.” He was saying, in effect, “God, You control the universe. You can do the impossible.” That was the faith God was looking for. He told Ezekiel to prophesy to those dead bones, and when he did, the bones came back to life.

You may face situations in your health, finances, or relationships that seem impossible. You can stay stuck there with little faith, but as with Ezekiel, great faith is in you. It’s not in your mind or your emotions; it’s in your spirit, and you need to wake it up. Now do your part and get in agreement with God. Prophesy health, victory, breakthrough, and abundance for every need. Dead things are about to come back to life. Great faith brings great favor.

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 taking me from little faith to great faith. 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

One of the biggest lies people believe about God is the lie that God is angry with them. The devil knows that if he can cause you to believe that God is mad at you, he can keep you trapped in fear, defeat, and bondage.

I want to expose this lie from the devil and show you from God’s Word that God is not mad at you. He is mad about you! God loves you passionately, and He wants you to be fully assured and confident of His love for you.

To begin living a victorious life, it’s important you believe with all your heart that God is for you and not against you (Rom. 8:31). When you use the weapons of right believing to prevail against the wiles of the devil, the Bible calls this being strong in the Lord. The armor of God in Ephesians 6:10–20 shows us that right believing in all that Jesus has done will always lead us to victory.

The apostle Paul begins with the belt of truth. When the devil comes against you with his lies about you, gird your waist with the belt of truth. The devil cannot deceive you if you are established in what God’s Word says about you. He can only make inroads into your mind when you don’t know or are unsure about what God’s Word says.

That’s why I encourage people to study God’s Word for themselves and to listen to messages that are full of God’s grace and truth. Fill your mind and heart with truth and you’ll surely defeat the enemy.

Secondly, we already know that the devil will try to attack you with all kinds of accusations and condemning thoughts to make you feel guilty and lousy about yourself. That’s why when you are established in the gift of righteousness, his attacks against you will not prevail. All of the devil’s fiery darts of accusations are ineffective against the breastplate of righteousness that guards your heart from all fear, guilt, and condemnation.

Now, the enemy will also come in to try to steal the joy you have because of the gospel of peace, which is depicted as shoes here. But when he comes, know and believe that the God of peace will surely crush Satan underneath your feet.

Beloved, it’s time to stand strong against the lies of the enemy! Rest assured that when you believe right, there is no area of your life in which the devil can prevail against you.

YOU’RE STILL GOING TO LAUGH AGAIN, LOVE AGAIN, DREAM AGAIN.

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

06/06/24

Today’s Scripture
There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
Philippians 1:6, MSG

A VICTORIOUS FINISH
You may be facing some delays or setbacks, have had some hurts and disappointments, but be encouraged. That’s not how your story ends. That’s one chapter, but you have a whole book. You’re still going to laugh again, love again, dream again.

When the thoughts whisper, “It’s too late to ever work out,” recognize that’s the enemy trying to keep you from the awesome future God has in store. Tune that out and get in agreement with your Creator. He’s saying, “It’s still going to happen. I’m going to bring you to a flourishing finish.” It’s not a defeated finish, a bankrupt finish, a lonely finish, or a betrayed finish. God has a victorious finish for you, an abundant finish, a flourishing finish. That means you’re blossoming, blooming, seeing dreams coming to pass, and going further than you’ve imagined.

That means you’re healthy, whole, being a bigger blessing than you’ve ever dreamed. New doors are about to open. The right people are about to show up. What God has in mind is much better and more rewarding than what you had in mind.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You for the good work You’re doing in my life and for the promise that You will bring it to full completion. Thank You that my story is still being written and it’s better than I could have ever dreamed. I declare that You are bringing me to a flourishing finish. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

SECTION TWO

Faced with a troubling report of an impending war, King Jehoshaphat set himself to seek the Lord and pray with hope before all the assembly of Judah. It was then that the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, who spoke the words of the Lord that we read in 2 Chronicles 20:15, 17. On hearing these words of hope, all Judah humbled themselves before the Lord, bowing before Him and worshiping Him.

Today the Lord is saying the same words to you in your situation. Hope in Him for He loves you! You don’t have to live in fear and discouragement when you know that the battle is not yours, but the Lord’s.

Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. The battle is His, and you will not need to fight in it.

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? The best thing you can do is to stand still. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord in your situation.

But Pastor Prince, if I stand still, nothing will happen!

My friend, standing still is not inactivity or doing nothing. It’s a posture of hope, and it involves keeping your hope anchored on the person of Jesus and having a sure and confident expectation of good.

When the marauding armies of Pharaoh were charging toward the children of Israel, hell-bent on annihilating them, Moses simply declared to the terrified Israelites, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord” (Exod. 14:13). The Hebrew word for salvation is yeshua, which is actually the name of Jesus. So salvation is the person of Jesus, and He is with you.

When you are caught in a hopeless situation, learn to position yourself—stand still and see the saving power of Jesus work on your behalf. He will never leave you nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5).

And as you center yourself, your thoughts, your beliefs, and your hopes on Him, He will lead you concerning what to do, just as He led Jehoshaphat to a triumphant victory over his enemies.

05/06/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:23, NLT

Have a Great New Day
Every morning you have to receive new mercies from God. How you start the day many times will determine what kind of day it’s going to be. Don’t ever start the day in neutral. If you leave your mind empty, it’s going to naturally gravitate toward the negative, especially if you’re in difficult times. You can’t wait to see what kind of day it’s going to be; you determine what kind of day it’s going to be. Make up your mind and say, “This is the day the Lord has made, and I will rejoice in it. It’s going to be a great day. By His mercies I’m starting this day anew. I’m going to be productive. I’m going to enjoy my family. I’m going to honor God. I’m grateful to be alive.” That’s setting your mind to receive more peace, more joy, and more favor. That’s making plans for a blessed day. That’s empowering you with thoughts of victory, favor, breakthroughs, and abundance. That’s making plans to rise higher, accomplish dreams, and go further than you’ve imagined.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You for Your mercies that are new every morning and for Your great faithfulness to me. Thank You that I can start every day rejoicing and expecting a great day. I declare that I will keep setting my mind for victory and the abundance of Your favor today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO

Have you ever wondered what Jesus was referring to when He shared on the new wine and old wineskins? He was referring to the mixture of the two covenants.

The new wine represents the new covenant of grace, while the old wineskin represents the old covenant of law. Have you ever seen old wineskins? They are brittle, hard, and inflexible. That’s the law. It is inflexible.

And when you pour the new wine of grace into the old wineskin of the law, you will lose both because the wineskin will be ruined and the wine will be spilled. The virtues of both the old and the new covenants will be cancelled out and lost.

I received a letter from Kirsten in Florida who experienced a mixture of law and grace. When she received her salvation at the age of seventeen, she experienced unconditional love for the first time in her life as God’s mercy and grace washed over her.

In the beginning, she said that church was a joy as they worshiped, shared, and prayed. But within a few years, she succumbed to a works mentality and began searching the Scriptures to discover what she needed to do. Having lost her joy and peace, she was tormented by thoughts of “not doing enough for God.”

Kirsten’s hope was reignited when she chanced upon one of my television broadcasts. She said, “That tiny spark of hope later burst into flames and set me free. Wow! God’s grace is real and it doesn’t depend on my ‘doing enough for Him.’ No more works that are motivated by guilt and shame that left me exhausted, overwhelmed, and drained. My peace and joy returned a hundredfold, and I was able to relax and enjoy my relationship with God, my family, and my church.”

That wasn’t all. Her revelation of God’s grace put a newfound peace and rest in her heart such that when the economic downturn in 2008 wrecked America financially and affected her family, she chose to rest and believe that God would provide for her family.

“I prayed one morning for God to give us something that day based solely on His grace and not our efforts,” she said. “Less than thirty minutes later, my husband’s former employer called him and asked if he wanted his old job back! My husband now earns as much as he did in his best year prior to the downturn. God’s grace is amazing!”

Beloved, don’t allow a mixture of law and grace to invade your heart and mind. God hates mixture because it robs you of the freedom, peace, and joy that come from resting in His Son’s finished work. It robs you of the power to reign in life through the abundance of His grace!

You cannot put new wine into old wineskins. You will lose both. But if you just focus and meditate on His grace and goodness toward you and your family, like Kirsten, you will see His grace abundantly provide for you.

04/06/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.”
Acts 24:25, NIV

04/06/24

DON’T PUT IT OFF
Felix was a ruthless, immoral Roman governor over Judea with whom the apostle Paul had the opportunity to share God’s truth. This was a destiny moment for Felix, and he knew he needed to change. God was speaking to his heart. It was vital that he receive the grace of God in order to see what God had in store for his life. He had the opportunity to take a step into his destiny, but he put it off and there’s no way to know if that “convenient” moment ever came.

God is speaking to all of us. It may be about an area where we need to grow, come up higher, and make better decisions. We’ve heard it. We keep ignoring it, but it won’t go away. Now is the time to act. Maybe it’s a whisper in your spirit that says you need to stretch, get out of your comfort zone, take a step of faith. Pay attention to the whispers. You are one whisper away from stepping into greater favor, greater influence, greater resources, something more than you’ve imagined.

A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for speaking to my heart and opening windows of grace for me to make changes in my life that need to be made. Help me to stop delaying to take the steps of faith that will take me higher. I will not put off dealing with these heart issues for a more convenient time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

SECTION TWO

Some time ago, we received a precious testimony from Kate, who shared that she had been supernaturally delivered from four years of alcohol addiction. You may be asking, “How can this be? How does four years of alcohol addiction just disappear like that? How could such a powerful craving just lose its hold in such a short time?”

The answer is simple but powerful.

In her testimony, Kate wrote how she allowed God’s love to invade her mind as she listened to grace-based messages on her iPod that were full of Jesus and His love. My friend, when you allow His love to saturate your mind, it doesn’t matter what wrong beliefs, fears, or addictions are keeping you bound. God’s grace will begin to break them down.

This is what happens when you have an encounter with your loving Savior. Everyone who encounters Jesus never leaves the same. He came to set the captives free.

Whatever your condition, however long it has kept you bound—two years, ten years, thirty years—I want you to know and believe that God can set you free in a supernatural instant.

Believe that the One who is both willing and able to set you free is the same One who created time, and He who created time isn’t time-bound. He who turned water into the finest aged wine in a matter of seconds can bypass natural processes and accelerate your deliverance from any bondage!

I know of many people who struggled with addictions for decades. But once they had a supernatural encounter with Jesus, they just woke up one morning and found themselves free, with none of that familiar urge or desire to engage in their negative behavior anymore. Frank, who lives in the state of Maryland, wrote to me and shared how he was set free from drug addiction. He had been told “once an addict, always an addict,” and he had believed it.

But when he came to know the truth about the life-transforming love and grace of Jesus through one of my teaching resources, it just destroyed the chains that bound him. He shared, “Man, I could have jumped through the roof when I discovered that all I had to do was accept the finished work of Jesus and His grace!

“After thirty years of drug addiction, I thought there was no hope for me. But praise Jesus, I am now drug-free, and I’m in a good grace-preaching church with my wife, who has also been set free of her drug addiction.”

My friend, that is the power of right believing!

Today, believe God loves you and that His grace is available for you. Whatever bad prognosis you may have heard about your situation, no matter how dark and dire your circumstances may be right now, believe and accept God’s grace. You don’t have to accept defeat for the rest of your life!

03/05/24

We all want to live victorious, overcoming lives. And to live right, we need to believe right.

But Pastor Prince, how do I begin to believe right?

Hearing plays a huge part in right believing. You cannot believe right unless you are hearing right.

Man, that was good! I don’t want you to miss that. You cannot believe right unless you are hearing right.

I believe the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:27–29 began to believe right when she began to hear right. God’s Word tells us that “faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ” (Rom. 10:17 NLT).

What you hear is vital. If you are believing God for a breakthrough in your life, pay attention to what you are listening to.

Are you hearing messages that are full of the good news of Jesus? After you listen to these messages (or read these resources), are you filled with the heavy sense of what you need to do? Or are you filled with the empowering sense of who Jesus is in your life and everything He has done for you at the cross?

According to the law, the woman with the issue of blood was unclean, unworthy, and disqualified. If she had heard that Jesus was no different from the religious Pharisees of her day, there was no way she would have had a positive expectation of good.

Under the law, when the unclean touches the clean, the clean becomes unclean. But under the grace of God, when the unclean touches the clean (Jesus), the unclean becomes clean!

This woman didn’t defile Jesus with her uncleanness when she reached out and touched His garments. On the contrary, she was infected with Jesus’ health and wholeness and made completely whole. Oh, the beauty and the depths of God’s amazing grace!

What have you been hearing about Jesus? Are you hearing about a hard, legalistic, and religious Jesus who is demanding, harsh, and unforgiving? Or are you hearing the true good news of His love, grace, and tender mercies toward you?

The true gospel of grace always imparts hope and faith to you to believe in Jesus and His goodness. No matter how long you have been struggling or how long it has been since you saw any results, I want to encourage you to fill your ears, eyes, and mind with the good news of Jesus.

Trust me, when you incline your ear to messages that are all about His grace, you will inevitably begin to have a positive, confident expectation of good. When your heart is filled with hope through hearing all the amazing stories about Jesus, like the woman, you’ll reach out in faith.

Beloved, reach out and receive your miracle and freedom from your loving Savior today!