27/03/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
Psalm 4:7, ESV

JOY IN THE JOURNEY
Too often we’re going to enjoy life when we accomplish a goal, when the kids are raised, when our spouse changes, when we get the promotion. Our joy is always in the future, when we cross another finish line, so we’re always rushing to the next thing. The problem is there’s always something that keeps us upset. The enemy would love to deceive us into enduring life but not enjoying life. Having children but not enjoying them. Being married but unhappy about our spouse’s flaws. Having a house, a job, and opportunities, but always having some reason we’re not happy.

The key is to find joy in the journey. You’re not there yet, you’re still waiting for things to improve, still believing for that promise, but in the meantime you’re enjoying where you are while you’re on the way to where you’re going. You can do that because the Scripture says that the joy of the Lord, the joy He puts in your heart, is your strength. Keep Him first place, and you’ll always have His joy.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You have a destination for my life as well as a journey to enjoy while I’m getting there. Thank You that You are my joy and that in Your presence is the fullness of joy. I declare that I will walk with You and enjoy the people and blessings You have given me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

The flesh in us can produce a whole gamut of emotions and thoughts, from defeat, jealousy, greed, and lust to anger, inferiority, condemnation, and arrogance. As long as we are in this physical body, the flesh is active in us.

But we can rejoice because when Jesus died on the cross, the Word of God tells us that He “condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). All the negative thoughts and toxic emotions from the flesh have already been judged and punished at the cross. Today we can experience victory over the flesh through the power of the cross.

You can read all about the apostle Paul’s struggle with the flesh in Romans 7:18–19: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice” (emphasis mine).

Did you notice how many times the words “I,” “me,” and “my” are mentioned in just the two verses above? I’m sure you can identify with the apostle Paul here in his struggle with the flesh. It’s the struggle we all face when we are occupied with ourselves and warring with the flesh within us. It’s a life of vexation, angst, defeat, and despair.

This is not where God wants you to live, my friend. A believer doesn’t live in Romans chapter 7. Through Christ Jesus, we should be living in Romans chapter 8. Let’s read on and discover how Paul broke free from this bondage of self.

Just a few verses later, Paul cries out, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24). The answer, my friend, is found in a person, and Paul tells us this person is Jesus: “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7:25).

Only our beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ, can deliver us from the flesh. And in Christ we can step into the first verse of Romans chapter 8, which proclaims, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (NASB).

This is where we as new covenant believers ought to live. Not in the domain of constant struggle and despair, but in the domain of no condemnation and victory.

26/03/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Those who went off with heavy hearts will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.
Psalm 126:6, MSG

ARMLOADS OF BLESSING
We all have times when our hearts are heavy through a loss, a bad medical report, or being mistreated on the job. It can feel as though the pain will never change. But today’s Scripture says that even when your heart is heavy, you’re going to come home laughing, with armloads of blessing. God is going to bring you out of that trouble better than you were before.

Today, you may be carrying burdens, carrying sorrow, carrying pain, but God is about to do an exchange. Instead of carrying the sorrow, how about carrying joy? Instead of carrying the hurt and loneliness from a divorce, how about having someone great walk into your life? Now you’re laughing, now you’re dreaming, living a victorious life. That’s how good God is. You go out with a heavy heart, and you come back laughing, loaded down with blessings, with favor, with peace, with victory. You come out stronger, healthier, promoted, at a new level of your destiny. You’re not just out of the hardship; you’re amazed at what God has done.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that You don’t fault me for the times when my heart is heavy and I don’t know what to do with the pain. Thank You that You find a way to exchange the trouble and sorrow with armloads of blessing. I believe that You will turn it around and bring me home laughing. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO

Our God is a practical God, who is interested in providing for your practical daily needs. Take a look at Jesus throughout the four Gospel accounts.

To those who were hungry, He provided food by multiplying the loaves and fish. To the fishermen who toiled all night and caught nothing, He gave them more than a boatload of fish.

Jesus didn’t stop there—whoever encountered Him received from Him what they lacked. He healed the broken hearted and gave sight to the blind. The sick who came to Him were all healed. Even the dead received His resurrection life!

My friend, Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever! He is still providing. So whatever you need today, whether it is wisdom, favor, healing, or divine strength, go to Him. He is a practical God.

24/03/24

If you struggle, as many believers do, with whether you deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious, you are asking the wrong question.

The question you should be asking is, does Jesus deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious? Because you are in Christ, having a blessed future is not contingent on how much you strive to be perfect or how hard you work at changing yourself. It is contingent on the person of Jesus.

The Bible proclaims, “as He is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). Does Jesus deserve to be blessed, favored, and victorious? Then so do you!

This is what being in Christ Jesus means. It means that today, God assesses you and sees you based on the perfection of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ righteousness is your righteousness. In fact, the Bible explains that because Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us, we are now the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).

“Righteousness” is a legal term. It means to have right standing before God. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words defines righteousness as “that gracious gift of God to men whereby all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are brought into right relationship with God.” In other words, your right standing before God is based upon Jesus’ right standing before God.

Today, you are as righteous as Jesus because your righteousness is from Him. He purchased it for you at the cross.

When you received Him as your Lord and Savior, He took away all your unrighteousness once and for all and gave you His gift of righteousness. This righteousness is something that you can never obtain or achieve through your right doing; it can only be received by your right believing in Jesus.

And do you know what happens when you receive this gift of righteousness? The Bible declares that “those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17).

Hey, when you reign, your addictions don’t. When you reign, sicknesses don’t. When you reign, fear, depression, and every obstacle that is obstructing you from living your life to the fullest will be torn down and flushed out!

23/03/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 26:3, ESV

ERASE IT AND REPLACE IT
What is your mind stayed on? What thoughts are you dwelling on throughout the day? Are your thoughts limiting you or empowering you? Are your thoughts stayed upon defeat and worry or upon victory, favor, breakthroughs, and abundance? Instead of keeping your mind stayed on your problems, on doubt, or on worry, keep it stayed on what God has promised you.?

Here’s the simple principle: When a negative thought comes, erase it and replace it with a positive, faith-filled thought from God’s Word. Don’t leave your mind empty. Get your mind going in the right direction, and your life will go in the right direction. You’re going to draw in what you’re constantly thinking about. If you’re thinking “can’t do it” or “I’m not enough” or “this problem is too big” thoughts, you’re drawing in defeat. Why don’t you start erasing and replacing thoughts? How much further will you go, how much more of God’s favor will you see, if you guard your mind, if you are selective in what you’re dwelling on, if you keep it stayed on Him?

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that there is a place in my mind where I can stay my thoughts on You and abide in peace. Help me to unclutter my mind of all the negative thoughts that have gotten in. I will do my part to stay in faith and let You step in and do Your part. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

When God promised to give Abraham land, Abraham asked, “God, how can I be sure?” And as if His word wasn’t good enough, God went one step further and cut a covenant with Abraham, binding Himself irrevocably to it to reassure His friend that He would do as promised.

Let me say something about God’s covenants. They can never be broken, only replaced with a better one. My friend, God will do as He has promised you, and to set your heart at ease, He bound Himself to a covenant with you when He cut it with your representative, Jesus, at Calvary.

So rest easy in the knowledge that you have a covenant-keeping God who CANNOT break His covenant or renege on His promises. Simply lean on HIS faithfulness and like Abraham, you will walk in your inheritance and healing.

22/03/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
Today’s Word

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Jabez prayed to the God of Israel: “Bless me, O bless me! Give me land, large tracts of land. And provide your personal protection—don’t let evil hurt me.” God gave him what he asked.
1 Chronicles 4:10, MSG

DEFY THE ODDS
Because his birth caused his mother so much pain, she named her son Jabez, which means “pain, sorrow, suffering.” Every time someone said his name, they were prophesying defeat and failure, inferiority and insecurity. Her estimate of what his life would be like was very low. But despite that negative label, he had the boldness to ask big, that God would bless him with abundance and protection, which God did.

We all face times when the dream seems too great, the problem too strong, the opposition too powerful. People rule us out and say, “It’s never going to happen. You don’t have the resources or come from the right family. The medical report is not good.” All the facts say, “It’s impossible,” but God will have you underestimated on purpose. When it seems the least likely, as with Jabez, that’s when He shows up the greatest. Don’t get discouraged when you’re underestimated; it’s a setup. God put you in that position to show Himself strong. When you defy the odds, everyone will know His favor is on your life.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You that when the odds are against me, You are for me. Thank You that when I’m being underestimated, nothing and no one is more powerful than You, and that I can dare to pray bold prayers. I believe that You are going to bless me with abundance as You did Jabez. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

SECTION TWO
Jesus is someone whom you can be completely real with. You can hang out with Him and be yourself, with no pretense and no play-acting.

Jesus is ever-loving toward you and you can talk to Him about anything. He enjoys conversing with you about your dreams, aspirations, and hopes.

He wants to heal you of things in your past that you may be struggling with. He is interested in your present challenges. He wants to weep with you when you are down and rejoice with you in all your victories.

Jesus is love and tenderness personified. Be careful not to confuse His tenderness with the effeminate and weak images that you have seen depicted in some traditional paintings of Him. He is tenderness and strength wrapped up in one. He is meekness and majesty, manhood and deity, velvet and steel.

You see, sometimes, when we attempt to be assertive and strong, we bulldoze over people’s feelings and end up hurting them with our words. When we attempt to be tender, we overdose on niceness and reduce ourselves to doormats to be taken advantage of by others.

Let’s turn away from ourselves and look at Jesus. He could sternly force a pack of scheming Pharisees to back off in one instance, challenging them by saying, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first” (John 8:7).

In the very next moment, this same Jesus could look straight into the eyes of a broken woman caught in adultery, and with compassion resonating deeply in His voice, ask her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:10–11).

This is our God!

In one moment, a tired Jesus could be fast asleep in a wind-swept fisherman’s boat, oblivious to the rough Galilean waters crashing against the hapless vessel. But in the very next moment, you see Him staring unflinchingly at the lashing waves, His well-toned carpenter’s arms raised to the sky. With His single declaration of absolute authority over heaven and earth, the waves submitted and calmed instantaneously into a placid mirror of stillness (Mark 4:37–39).

Jesus is 100 percent Man and at the same time 100 percent God. As Man, He understands and identifies with all that you have gone through, are going through, and will ever go through in this life.

But as a loving God, all His power, authority, and resources are on your side. Beloved, whatever you are facing today, let your heart rest easy in His perfect love for you.

21/03/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

Today’s Scripture
It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?
Psalm 127:2, MSG

A HERO MENTALITY
It’s easy to get so caught up meeting other people’s needs and measuring up to their expectations that we put ourselves on the back burner. There are the constant demands of work, family, the maintenance of the house, and friends who are counting on us. We develop a hero mentality where we can’t let anyone down. We always have to be strong, always come through, cheer everyone else up, fix the problems, and stay late.

We’re doing all these good things to try to keep everyone around us happy. The problem is that we can become depleted, drained, worn-out. We’re making sure everyone else is a priority, but we need to make ourself a priority. Your first mission is to keep yourself healthy—emotionally, physically, and spiritually. It’s not selfish to take time to get refreshed, to be reenergized. You shouldn’t be so busy that you don’t have time to be alone, to laugh, to exercise, and for recreation. Our God delights to give you rest and to help you stay in balance.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You for giving me my body to live in and to care for as a temple of Your Spirit. Thank You that You made me to work and be productive as well as to rest and to be refreshed. Help me keep myself healthy and renewed, living a balanced life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

SECOND SECTION

I want to begin this devotional by giving you this challenge: ask God for big things! What do you desire to see in your life—in your family, health, finances, and career? What would you ask God for if you knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that He is good and that His love for you endures forever?

Ask God for them! Jesus came so that you might live a life that is marked not by lack, but by abundance; not by despair, but by the fullness of His love, joy, and peace.

I would like you to write down in your journal what you would ask God for if you knew that He hears your prayers. What are your dreams, hopes, and aspirations? What would you like to see come to pass in your life? What are you battling with today? Which area of your life would you like to see God’s power work in?

Write it down. Write it all down. Write what you want to see happen with Bible hope in your heart that He hears you and will supply. Write with a certain, joyful, positive, and confident expectation of good.

Don’t just ask God for small things. Ask Him for big things!

For instance, don’t ask Him for just a job. Ask Him for a position of influence. Don’t just ask Him to restore your health. Ask Him for a long and healthy life filled with many good days.

Enlarge your faith to believe in God’s goodness. He is pleased when our faith is big. He is not offended when we ask Him for big things.

Would you do that right now? Just take a few moments and pen down your requests to God—God, who is almighty and more powerful than we can ever imagine. God, who hung the planets in their places and spoke order into the world. God, who led His people in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God, who rained manna from heaven and brought forth water from dry rock.

God, who turned bland waters into the finest wine. God, who made the lame walk, the blind see, and the deaf hear. God, who multiplied five loaves of bread and two small fish to feed five thousand men. God, who raised the dead and conquered the grave.

Ask what you need of God, who loves YOU with an everlasting love!

20/03/24

JOEL OSTEEN MINISTRIES
TODAY’S WORD

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
1 John 5:15, ESV

THE ANSWER IS ON THE WAY
When you pray, you can know that you have your requests. When you believe and receive your healing, or the promotion, or the freedom, things begin to happen in the unseen realm. But if the answer is always in your future, you haven’t received it in your spirit. What God is going to bring to pass is not what you ask for, but what you believe you receive when you pray. Are you receiving when you’re believing? Do you know that you have your request? It’s not just, “God, I’m asking You to help me break this addiction.” That’s good, but by itself it’s not enough. Follow it up with: “Lord, I receive my freedom. Thank You that I am free from this addiction now—not that I’m going to be free one day. No, I have my request now.” When you prayed, you not only believed it, but you received it. Now change your report from “I’m hoping to” to “It’s already done.” It’s just a matter of time before what happened in the unseen realm shows up in the natural realm.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father, thank You for the privilege of coming to You, the Creator of the universe, and being able to know that I have the requests I have asked of You. Thank You that I can believe and receive now. I believe and declare that the answer is on the way. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

SECTION TWO
I love the apostle Paul’s description of God’s grace: free and undeserved!

When you truly experience this free and undeserved favor and love from God, you don’t have to worry about performing. His love and unmerited favor within you will flush out all the wrong thinking and wrong believing, and you will produce good works—true fruits of righteousness that are lasting, sustainable, and enduring!

You may have heard a teaching going around where grace is defined as “divine empowerment.” Be careful about defining grace as merely empowerment—that is diluting and reducing what grace truly is.

Grace produces divine empowerment, but in and of itself, the essence of grace is His undeserved, unmerited, and unearned favor. When are you in your most undeserving state? When you have failed.

Unmerited favor means that when you have failed and are in your most undeserving state, you can receive Jesus’ favor, blessings, love, and perfect acceptance in your life. Let me tell you, when you understand and receive grace as God’s unmerited favor, not only will you be empowered, you will be healed, and you will be changed from the inside out.

The real danger with defining grace as just divine empowerment is that we can unconsciously flip grace around and instead of seeing it as God’s work in our life, we make it our work. From being centered on what Jesus has done, the erroneous definition of grace as “empowerment” swings it to being about what you must do and how you must perform now that you have received this grace, this “divine empowerment.”

Can you see this? With such a definition of grace, the onus to live the Christ life falls back squarely on your shoulders.

My friend, make sure that what you believe in your heart always points you back to Jesus and Jesus alone and not to yourself. Remember, it is all about His work, His doing, His performance, and His love in our lives. It never points back to you.

Don’t be hoodwinked by those who move away from the pristine definition of grace as God’s unmerited favor and end up making it all about you and what you need to do. That’s not grace. Grace is God’s doing—from inception and all the way to the end.

Today, receive His abundant grace—see that God has already started a good work in your life and He alone will lead you to and give you the victory in your area of need.