In 1942, C S Lewis wrote a brilliant book entitled The Screwtape Letters. It tells the story of a senior demon teaching a junior demon how to exploit man’s weaknesses and frailties.

Along the same lines, I would imagine that Romans 7:9 is probably the most studied and memorized verse in hell. All junior demons would be taught this verse and the lecture would be titled, “How to bring about a revival of sin”!

According to Paul, when you introduce the law, there will be a REVIVAL OF SIN! And that’s not all. Apart from reviving sin, the law also kills and brings death!

Isn’t it amazing, then, that there are well-meaning ministers who preach strongly on the Ten Commandments, thinking that imposing the law would cause sin to be removed?

According to Romans 3:20, “by the law is the knowledge of sin.” In other words, without the law, there would be no knowledge of sin.

For instance, you can drive at any speed that you like on a road that doesn’t have a speed limit and nobody can accuse you of speeding. But once the authorities put a speed limit on the same road, you now have the knowledge that if you drive beyond say, 70 miles an hour on this road, you would be breaking the law.

In the same way, Paul said, “For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet'” (Rom. 7:7). That is why the enemy always pours accusations on you using the voice of a legalist. He uses the law and the commandments to show up your failures, to put a spotlight on how your behavior has disqualified you from fellowship with God, and to constantly point out how you are undeserving of His acceptance, love, and blessings!

The enemy uses the law to heap condemnation upon you and give you a sense of guilt and distance from God. He knows that the more condemnation and guilt you experience, the more likely you are to feel alienated from God and to continue in that sin.

The only way out of this vicious circle of defeat is to put the spotlight on the finished work of Jesus, who by His death at the cross took your condemnation and qualified you to receive God’s acceptance, love, and blessings forevermore.

11/05/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“No one can take your joy from you.”
John 16:22, NLV

DON’T GIVE AWAY YOUR POWER
Jesus says that no person can take your joy from you. You have to give it away. The next time someone is rude or leaves you out, just smile and stay in peace. When you let someone else determine whether or not you’re going to stay in peace, you’re giving them your power. Make up your mind that you’re not going to let them take your joy. When someone tries to make you feel small, ignore it and move on. You’re not who they say you are; you are who God says you are—His masterpiece, crowned with favor. Be happy despite what they’re doing.

Don’t keep responding the same old way and let people and circumstances determine your mood, your peace, or your joy. You can’t control what comes your way, but you can control how you respond. If you’re going to reach your destiny, you have to prove to God that you’ll stay on the high road. Do the right thing when it’s hard, and God will take you to levels you’ve never imagined.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that I have the power to remain full of joy and stay in peace when circumstances and people try to discourage me. Thank You that You made this day, and I’m not going to live sour and defeated. I’ve made up my mind; I’m not giving away my power. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

SECTION TWO

When we are going through a difficult time or dealing with a heavy burden of stress, anxiety, fear, or condemnation, it’s extremely challenging to make the paradigm shift from self-occupation to Christ-occupation. So how do we do it?

To answer that question, let me show you how David encouraged himself in the Lord whenever he was fearful, anxious, or depressed. Let’s learn from someone whom God describes as “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22).

God’s Word reveals to us that whenever David was in trouble, he worshiped the Lord with beautiful psalms, hymns, and praises. Instead of wallowing in his own defeat and groping in darkness, David would turn his eyes to the heavens and lift up his voice to the King of kings.

In his closing years, when Absalom, his own son, betrayed him and tried to usurp the throne, David could have chosen to retaliate by sending out his loyal troops against Absalom. However, he didn’t have the heart to fight against his beloved son.

Instead David fled from Absalom with tears in his eyes and a broken heart. Just imagine how crushed David must have been.

But rather than be overwhelmed by the excruciatingly painful circumstances surrounding him, David looked to the Lord and worshiped Him with these eternal words as he ascended the Mount of Olives: “But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. I cried to the LORD with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill” (Ps. 3:3–4).

Isn’t it wonderful to know that when we cry out to God in worship, He hears us? As David worshiped the Lord, God turned his circumstances around for his good. God allowed a person in Absalom’s camp to give him unsound advice, and as a result Absalom’s coup d’état failed.

***I am telling you that no matter what your trouble is today, learn to worship Jesus in your valley of trouble and praise His lovely name. See Him as your shield. See Him as your glory and the lifter of your head.

Be consumed with Jesus, and He will turn your circumstances around for your good. Let your heart find rest and peace in the security of His love.

10/05/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
Judges 6:14, NLT

THE PROBLEM WITH RUNNING AWAY
Gideon was hiding from the enemy when an angel told him he was to lead the Israelites in battle, that he was a mighty man of fearless courage. Down deep, Gideon knew the call of God was on his life, that greatness was in him, but he was at a decision point. Was he going to let fear, insecurity, and an “I’m not qualified” mind-set keep him from his destiny? Was he going to confront his fears or just stay comfortable in hiding? Gideon stopped running, faced his fears, confronted his insecurity, and became a hero of faith.

You can’t become all you were created to be when you run from things that are hard. It’s uncomfortable to deal with your temper, your insecurity, or to forgive someone who hurt you, but don’t shrink back because it’s hard. The problem with running is it doesn’t go away. Before you can move forward, you have to deal with it. Don’t go ten years living below your potential because you didn’t want to do the hard thing.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You for Your call on my life to rise up, to wake up the greatness You put in me. Thank You that I am not limited by fear or insecurity or by feelings of being unqualified that have been passed down through my family. I am going to confront the things that are hard and move forward. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO

When God becomes Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace, in your life, He doesn’t just soothe your emotions. He will lead you with His peace.

For example, you may be making some decisions at your work, for your children, or perhaps even where and when to travel for your vacation. Talk to Jesus about it. He will lead and guide you with His peace.

If there is peace from the Lord, go with that decision. If there is an absence of peace and you feel a sense of restraint, back away from it.

You will find that guidance from the Lord comes very easily when God manifests Himself as Jehovah Shalom. In His peace, decisions don’t feel forced and full of strife. In His peace, there is a rest. His peace will guide you supernaturally to be at the right place, at the right time, with the right people.

After our Lord called Gideon a man of valor, his response was: “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites” (Judg. 6:13).

Doesn’t Gideon remind us of ourselves? Instead of hearing what the Lord had just called him, he began to complain. “Why has the Lord forsaken us?”

Astoundingly, the Lord simply turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (Judg. 6:14).

What? First, the Lord Jesus calls this man who is in hiding “a man of valor.” Now, He calls this complaining man, who is mad at God, to go in that might of his and save Israel? Shouldn’t it be, “Be gone from My presence, you stinking complainer, I must have found the wrong guy”?

I am so glad that the Lord is not like you and me. He always calls the things that are not as though they are (Rom. 4:17).

And I believe that as you receive a revelation of how the Lord is the God of peace in your life, you may be fearful and complaining now, but like Gideon, God will send you to be a testimony of His protection. He will send you to all your friends, coworkers, and loved ones who are bound by fear, and He will use you to deliver them from fear!

09/05/24

Today’s Scripture
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5, NIV

BEFORE YOU WERE BORN
You didn’t show up because your mother and father decided to have a baby. It wasn’t a random coincidence that they got together. Sometimes when a pregnancy is not planned, we say this baby was a surprise. You may have been a surprise to your parents, but you are not a surprise to our God. As was true for Jeremiah, He’s been thinking about you from eternity, and He has an appointed purpose for which He has set you apart. He has written the script, and there will be moments of favor and blessing that will come to you. Your purpose will come tracking you down.

In Jeremiah’s life, he couldn’t possibly become a prophet to the nations on his own. He couldn’t earn it, work for it, or put out flyers that said, “Hey, vote for me to be a prophet.” Who he became was a reflection of the sovereignty of God. In your life, He will override every force, every limitation, every disadvantage, and every bad decision that tries to stop you, and He will thrust you into your destiny.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You are the Most High God and You handpicked me and set me apart for Your own purpose before my birth. Thank You for calling me to live by a higher standard and be set apart for Your purpose. I want to live up to my calling and bring You praise. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO
The more areas of your life you involve the Lord in, the more you can experience His protection. You can even ask the Lord to guide you in something as seemingly natural as your travel itinerary.

In fact, read the passage above. The apostle Paul allowed the Holy Spirit to lead them at every step.

We see from those Scriptures that closed doors are not necessarily negative, and could be signs of God’s protection over our lives. The challenge for some of us is that we are so adept at planning and scheduling our busy lives that many times, we don’t make room for the Lord to intervene and to guide us to be at the right place at the right time.

Let’s not put our trust in our intelligence and planning, but in His wisdom, leading, and counsel. There is a proverb that says, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9). Even as we plan, I pray that we will always remember to commit all our ways to the Lord, and allow Him to direct our steps.

Being led by the Spirit does not have to be something complicated. When you walk close to the Lord and have a close relationship with Him, He can lead you in supernaturally natural ways.

Some years ago, a couple in our church were vacationing at a beach resort on Penang Island in Malaysia, when the wife felt like eating something in another location on the mainland. Because of that “prompting” in her belly, they headed off earlier than they had originally planned. While they were loading their vehicle, a man kept hurrying them and asking them to move off as they were apparently blocking the hotel driveway, and that had really irritated them at that time.

In any case, just fifteen minutes after they had crossed from the island to the mainland, they heard the news that an earthquake in the Indian Ocean had triggered a killer tsunami that crashed onto the beachfront they were at, killing more than fifty people. Had they left just a little later, they could have been among the casualties of the tragedy that day. Looking back, the couple believes that the man at the hotel might even have been an angel sent by the Lord to get them out of harm’s way quickly.

I don’t know about you, but I want the Lord to direct all my steps! Call upon Him today and He will answer you.