“There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the LORD’s counsel — that will stand.”(Proverbs 19:21, NKJV)
God is strategic. He has laid out an exact plan for our lives right down to the smallest details. He knows the people you need to meet in order to fulfill your destiny. He knows who is going to give you a good break and who is going to put in a good word for you. He knows when someone is going to need to be there to help you out of a difficult time. God has it all figured out. He is not vague or approximate. He is orchestrating your life right down to the very second, causing you to be at the right place at the right time so you can meet the right people that He has ordained before the foundation of the world. You probably can look over your life and see how, time after time, God directed your steps to the exact moment. If you had been ten seconds earlier or ten seconds later, things would have played out differently. That’s God orchestrating His plan. That’s God ordering your steps. All you have to do is stay faithful to Him and follow His leading because in the end, His plan will stand! Father, thank You for orchestrating my life. I trust that my times are in Your hands. I trust that You are working things out for my good as I keep my faith and hope in You in Jesus’ name. Amen.— Joel & Victoria Osteen “When darkness overtakes the godly, light will come bursting in”(Psalm 112:4, NLT) Everyone goes through seasons of difficulty or times when things just seem dark. During these challenging times, know that you are not alone. God has a plan to drive out the darkness — He will flood you with His light! Notice that in today’s verse it doesn’t say, “The light will come trickling in.” No, it says that the light will come bursting in! That means suddenly, you will see God’s goodness. Suddenly, you’ll be promoted. Suddenly, the answer will come! If you’ve been going through a difficult time, get ready for the goodness of God in a new way. Know that His light is about to come bursting in! Get ready for breakthroughs. Get ready for promotion. Get ready for restoration. You may have had that problem for a long, long time, but today could be the day that it turns around. Suddenly, things can change! God wants His glory to be seen on you. He wants you to stand out in the crowd. He wants you to be so blessed that everyone around you can see His goodness on you! So keep standing, keep believing, keep hoping and keep declaring His Word because His light is going to come bursting in! Heavenly Father, thank You for Your light that drives out every trace of darkness! I choose to expect Your goodness. I choose to focus on Your faithfulness. I trust that You are working behind the scenes, and I expect that You will turn things around for my good in Jesus’ name. Amen. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”(Ezekiel 36:26, NIV)
In life, we all have negative things that happen to us. We go through situations that are unfair. I know people who were raised in an unhealthy environment. Their parents had issues, and now it’s making life much more difficult on them. But here is the truth: when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, He gives you a new heart. In other words, your bloodline changes. No longer are you subject to your earthly heritage; you become subject to your heavenly heritage! His spiritual blessing always overrides the curse in the natural realm. When you understand who you are and what God has already done, then no matter what someone else did, no matter how unfair it was, no matter how you were raised, you won’t get bitter. You won’t live with a chip on your shoulder. You realize that nothing can stop you from fulfilling your God-given destiny! Today, remember you came from Almighty God. He gave you life. When you choose Him, you are choosing your heavenly heritage of blessing and eternal, abundant life! God in heaven, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus so that I may be saved. Today I surrender every area of my life to You. Have Your way in me; let Your will be done in my life. Thank You for making me new in Jesus’ name. Amen.— Joel & Victoria Osteen Like many people today, I have big dreams and goals. I have desires in my heart. But my prayer now is, “God, not my will, but let Your will be done.” If a door closes, it’s no big deal; I let it go. If my plans don’t work out, no big deal; I know God has something better. I’ve learned to not get so consumed by a dream that if it doesn’t happen my way, I get all bent out of shape.
Maybe you’ve gone through a disappointment. You don’t understand it. You could easily be bitter, live with a chip on your shoulder, and give up on your dreams. Realize today that God is at work in your life. He is directing your steps. What you thought was a setback is going to turn out to be a setup for a comeback! When you surrender your will to Him, when you humble yourself before Him, that’s when God can take you to another level. Today, shake off the self-pity. Shake off the disappointment and realize that God has you in the palm of His hand. Know that He has good plans in store for your future, better than you could ever imagine! Trust Him with your whole heart today and every day! Precious heavenly Father, today I surrender every area of my heart, mind and life to You. Have Your way in me. Do Your will in my life. Let everything I am bring glory to You in all things! I bless You today and always in Jesus’ name. Amen. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels...”(2 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV)
You have many treasures buried deep inside of you. Gifts, talents, abilities that you don’t even know about yet. But as a believer in Jesus, the greatest treasure within you is the Spirit of God. You carry the treasure of God in an earthen vessel! He’s also deposited treasures on the inside of you that are tied to your purpose. By His Spirit, you will discover that God has fully equipped you for everything you need in this life. We have to draw out those treasures inside of us by what we speak and what we believe. We stir up the gifts by praying in the Spirit. Don’t let those treasures lie dormant. Seek God and follow His leading. Dig deep, stir it up and move forward in the destiny God has in store for you! Father, thank You for choosing to live inside of me. Show me the treasures You have deposited within me so that I can fulfill Your purposes for me all the days of my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.— Joel & Victoria Osteen “Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”(Genesis 18:14, NKJV)
God gave Sarah a promise that she would have a baby, but she was well beyond the childbearing years. She thought the promise would come through somebody else. That made more sense. She was too old. So she got her husband, Abraham, together with a young maid, and they had a baby. Sarah said, “Thank You, Lord. The promise came to pass.” But God said, “No, Sarah. I didn’t put the promise in them. I put the promise in you. You have hidden treasure that is still buried in your womb.” But as long as Sarah thought, “I’m too old. I’m at a disadvantage. I don’t look like these younger women,” she was talking herself out of what God wanted to do. How many times do we do the same thing? “I could never be in management.” “I could never write that book.” “I could never build that house.” No, God is saying to you what He said to Sarah. “I didn’t put the promise in somebody else. I put the promise in you.” Look past your circumstances today and look to God. The one who promised is faithful, and He will bring it to pass! Father, thank You for Your faithfulness to me. I know that You will bring to pass every promise You’ve made. I repent for trying things in my own strength and choose to trust wholly in You in Jesus’ name. Amen.lick here to edit. When things happen in your life that you didn’t plan, do you find yourself trying to reason it all out, or look for a “file,” so to speak, in your mind? What happens when you can’t find a “file” to put it in? What if you can’t make sense of it all?
Here’s the answer: Every one of us needs to create a file in our thinking called an “I Don’t Understand It” file. When things come up that don’t make sense and you can’t figure out, instead of getting frustrated or confused, simply put it in your “I Don’t Understand It” file and leave it alone. If you go through life trying to figure out why something bad happened, why it didn’t work out, why my child didn’t get healed, it’s going to cause you to be bitter. Part of trusting God means trusting Him when things don’t make sense, knowing that His plan is always for your good; knowing that He will reveal all things in His time — even if it means in eternity. Here’s what I’ve learned. Don’t put a question mark where God has put a period. What the enemy meant for evil, God will ultimately use for your good. Keep moving forward because God loves you, God is for you, and He has a great plan for you! Precious Lord, today I surrender my questions, I surrender my past, I surrender my need to have all the answers and choose to trust that You have all the answers. I will wait on Your timing to reveal Your ways to me and choose to press forward into the destiny You have prepared for me in Jesus’ name. Amen. “Let the saints be joyful in glory; let them sing aloud on their beds” Psalm 149:5
As you woke up this morning, what was the first thing that went through your mind? Did you wake up with a song of praise on your lips? When we start the day in worship, we start the day connected to Almighty God. When we live a lifestyle of praise, it shows that our faith is constantly in Him. We make glorifying God a priority. It’s not secondary, “Oh, if I have time.” No, you’re always talking about God’s goodness. You’re constantly telling your friends how God has blessed you. In your car, you’re singing songs of praise. At the office, under your breath, you’re thanking God for His favour. You get up in the morning and say, “God, I love You today. I praise You today. Thank You for another beautiful day.” Then, when you go to bed at night, you bless Him for His faithfulness! Friend, when you have the high praises of God coming out of your mouth, the scripture says Almighty God will go to war against your enemies. Praise precedes the victory, so start the day right and live a lifestyle of praise! ~ Joel Osteen “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life...” (2 Peter 1:3, NIV)
It’s easy to get stuck in life thinking you’ve reached your limits. But, God wouldn’t have given you a dream without giving you the ability to accomplish it. You have everything you need. The problem many times is that it’s buried inside. It’s hidden treasure. You have gifts and talents that you’ve not yet tapped. There is potential that is waiting to be released. When God laid out the plan for your life, He deposited in you the skill, the wisdom, the creativity; everything you need to fulfill your destiny. Now here’s the key. It’s not what you have in you that matters; it’s what you get out. If you’re going to reach your highest potential, you have to tap in to that hidden treasure. Now the challenge is, “don’t die with the treasure still on the inside.” You have something to offer this world that nobody else can offer. You are unique, one of a kind. You are anointed to be you. Be confident in who God made you to be, knowing that you’ve got what it takes to step in to the fullness of your destiny. Father, thank You for giving me everything I need to fulfill the dreams You’ve placed in my heart. I choose to stay focused and press forward into the good things You have me in Jesus’ name. Amen. — Joel & Victoria Osteen “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”(Hebrews 12:1, NIV)
Is there a desire that you placed on the shelf, so to speak? Have you been sitting on the sidelines of your dream, celebrating everybody else’s victories, content to see the promises come to pass in their lives? It’s good to celebrate with others, but God wants to do something amazing in your life, too. He wants you to be celebrated. You don’t have to sit on the sidelines watching everyone else. You have treasure inside of you. Think about the promises that God has spoken over you; dreams that He wants you to give birth to. It’s not too late. You’re not too old. It may look impossible, but our God can do the impossible. When you believe, favor is released. When you believe, hidden treasure comes forth. Don’t waste another day sitting on the sidelines of life. It’s time to get back in the game. It’s time to run your race. It’s time to press forward into the promises that God has in store for you! Father, thank You for the promises You’ve spoken over my life. Help me to rise up, be strong and press forward. Today I choose to let go of anything that would hold me back from boldly embracing everything You have in store for me in Jesus’ name! Amen.— Joel & Victoria Osteen |
Ana & Andre Schoonbee God uses us to motivate and encourage the body. Authors
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