Joel Osteen Devotional 8 April 2024: Be a Phinehas

But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague was stopped.

In Numbers 25, Midianite women had lured the Israelites into idol worship, partying, and committing all kinds of immorality. God was so displeased that a plague broke out and thousands of Israelites died. It looked as though the plague would continue. Then a man named Phinehas rose up and put to death an Israelite man and Midianite woman who publicly defied Moses’ warning. One person took a stand and said, “I’m going to honor God and do the right thing,” and the plague ended.

Phinehas’s action was extreme, but it saved others. Take it symbolically. You can stop the plague in your family, but you have to kill the negative cycle of anger, unforgiveness, compromise, or addiction. As long as you allow these things to live, they will kill your dreams, kill your freedom, kill your purpose, and get passed down to your children. Have the courage to step up. Our attitude should be: “This may have been passed down, but it’s not going to get past me. I will win the battle. This is where it ends.”

“Father, thank You for the call to rise up and take my stand against whatever negative cycle has plagued me and my family. Thank You that I am not limited by my past, by dysfunction that’s been passed down. I believe that You are going to help me take my family to the next level. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

About Joel Osteen
Raised in Houston, Texas, with a loving family of seven and world-renowned parents in full-time ministry, Joel Osteen never imagined that he would follow so closely in his father’s footsteps. As a young man, his training and interests were behind the scenes in television production, though he was close to his father in ministry.