Who Will Receive the Blessing?

Today’s Scripture
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation" (Psalm 24:3-5, KJV).

Today’s Word with Joel and Victoria
God wants us to receive every blessing that He has in store for us. That’s why He tells us in His Word how we can receive every one of His promises—by having clean hands and a pure heart. What does that mean? First of all, we are made clean and pure by the blood of Jesus when we make Him our Lord and Savior and turn away from anything that displeases Him. And I’ve found that most of the time, it’s not the big things that keep us from God’s best; it’s the small things—maybe it starts with an offense that turns into unforgiveness. Or maybe you watch things on TV or the internet that you know you shouldn’t, and it becomes a bad habit that steals your time and pollutes your mind.

Make the decision today that you are going to be a person of excellence and integrity. Treat the people in your life with respect and kindness. Look for ways to be a blessing to others. Be determined to live a life that pleases God so that you can receive the honor, wealth, and abundance that He has in store for you!

A Prayer for Today
Father in heaven, thank You for the blood of Jesus that cleanses and renews me. I choose to turn away from anything that displeases You so that I can live righteously before You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Joel Osteen

Jokes : Everybody Knows Bubba

Bubba was bragging to his boss one day. "You know, I know everyone there is to know.  Just name someone, anyone, and I know them."

Tired of his boasting, his boss called his bluff.  "Ok, Bubba, how about Tom Cruise?"

"Sure, yes, Tom and I are old friends, and I can prove it."

So Bubba and his boss fly out to Hollywood and knock on Tom Cruise's door. Sure enough, Tom Cruise shouts, "Bubba! Great to see you! You and your friend come right in and join me for lunch!".

Although impressed, Bubba's boss is still skeptical. After they leave Cruise's house, he tells Bubba that he thinks Bubba's knowing Cruise was just lucky.

"No, no, just name anyone else," Bubba says.

"President Bush," his boss quickly retorts.

"Yes," Bubba says.

"I know him. Let's fly out to Washington."

And off they go. At the White House, Bush spots Bubba on the tour and motions him and his boss over, saying, "Bubba, what a surprise.  I was just on my way to a meeting, but you and your friend come on in and share a cup of coffee first and catch up."

Well, the boss is very shaken by now, but still not totally convinced.  After they leave the White House grounds, he expresses his doubts to Bubba, who again implores him to name anyone else.

"The Pope," his boss replies.

"Sure!" says Bubba.

"I've known the Pope a long time."

So off they fly to Rome.  Bubba and his boss are assembled with the masses in Vatican Square when Bubba says, "This will never work. I can't catch the Pope's eye among all these people. Tell you what. I know all the guards, so let me just go upstairs and I'll come out on the balcony with the Pope."

Bubba disappears into the crowd headed toward the Vatican.  Sure enough, half an hour later, Bubba emerges with the Pope on the balcony. By the time Bubba returns, he finds that his boss has had a heart attack and is surrounded by paramedics.  Working his way to his boss' side, Bubba asks him, "What happened?"  His boss looks up and says, "I was doing fine until you and the Pope came out on the balcony and the man next to me said, "Who's that on the balcony with Bubba?"