Count it All Joy - Victoria Osteen

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It's time 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:02.200 to get the recognition you deserve and earn a degree 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:04.840 you'll be proud of, one that employers will trust and 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.119 respect when you take the next step in your life 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:10.280 and career. Make it count with Purdue Global Produce online 0:01:10.360 --> 0:01:14.959 university for working adults. Start your comeback at Purdueglobal dot edu. 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.080 God wants us to go from strength to strength. He 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.440 wants us to go from glory to glory. We sang 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:34.959 about it a few minutes ago, how he wants to 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:36.560 take us from glory to glory. 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.480 He wants us to go higher and higher. 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:44.880 But sometimes when we're trying to get higher, we're trying 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.000 to go to more strength, we're trying to get through 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:53.120 we find that we're going from struggle to struggle. See, 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:55.640 God doesn't want us to go from struggle to struggle. 0:01:56.000 --> 0:01:59.840 His intention is for us to go from strength to strength. 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:04.320 And can I tell you today, we all face this challenge. 0:02:04.880 --> 0:02:07.560 One day we're doing good, the next day we're struggling. 0:02:07.960 --> 0:02:10.480 We're trying to get out of a situation. We're trying 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:14.160 to get to another situation. Maybe if you're struggling today, 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:19.040 you need to hear this one word rest, just rest. 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:20.239 See. 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:22.920 The truth is we're going to get to where God 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:26.160 wants us to be if we're honoring him, if we 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:30.440 put him first place, if we take time to get 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:32.880 his plans and his words in our heart and in 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:36.000 our life, We're not going to get to where we 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:39.520 need to be any quicker if we worry, if we struggle, 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.280 or if we're frustrated. So today I just want to say, 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:48.799 if you find yourself struggling, rest, rest in God's peace, 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:51.280 Abide in his joy. 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:53.840 That's where you're going to find your strength. 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.880 That is where you are going to endure and find 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:03.120 great persistence. God is always trying to get us higher, 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:07.240 so we're always going to be facing something in our life. 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:10.320 Listen to what it says in James one four. It says, 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:14.600 consider it all joy when you go through trials of. 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:17.800 Many kinds, many kinds. 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:22.080 A variety of trials coming from different places. Where to 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:26.359 count it all joy? When we face trials? See, trials 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.919 is what causes us to struggle. But God is saying 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:34.880 count it all joy. In this version that I'm reading, 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:37.240 it says, consider. 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:37.760 It all joy. 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:44.320 See, our trials were never meant to decrease us. They 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:47.280 were meant to increase us. They were not meant to 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.520 tear our faith down. They were meant to build our 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:57.000 faith up. Trials were meant to produce perseverance in us. 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.280 See that scripture goes on to say that we won't 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.400 be lacking anything. That there may be a trial of 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.000 our faith, but it's going to lead us to good, 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.840 it's not going to tear us down. The key to 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:15.320 counting it all joy is joy. The joy of the 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:19.240 Lord is our strength. We don't find the joy in 0:04:19.320 --> 0:04:22.119 the trial. We don't find the joy and the pain. 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:24.040 We are supposed to. 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:27.320 Find the joy in the God who is the source 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:29.160 of all strength, the. 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:31.479 God who is in control of it all. 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.960 When we are walking through a difficulty, we are supposed 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:37.800 to look for God, not. 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:41.800 Look at the difficulty. We're to count it all joy. 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:47.080 Happiness comes and goes, Excitement is here, vacations come, they go. 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:51.640 But joy is supposed to abide in us. Joy lives 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:55.080 in us. Joy is a gift from Almighty God. 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:59.279 You know, sometimes when we're going through a trial or 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:03.200 a test, we think this isn't joyful. 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:05.560 I can tell you joy is not the word that 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:07.800 comes to me when I'm facing a difficulty. I just 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:08.479 have to admit it. 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:11.839 Right now, I think the scripture should say when you 0:05:11.920 --> 0:05:14.360 get through the difficulty, that's when you can throw your 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:16.920 hands up in the air and you can say, finally, 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:20.040 I can have some joy, I can have some relief. 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:23.279 But see the scripture doesn't say that. 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:29.560 It says we are to consider it all joy. Were 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:33.440 That tells me right now that when I'm facing a difficulty, 0:05:34.200 --> 0:05:37.840 I have a choice. I can consider it joy or 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:40.919 I can consider it hardship. And if I consider it 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:44.960 hardship and difficulty and misery and start walking down that road, 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.800 I'm going to begin to complain, and I'm going to 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:51.640 lose any joy I ever had. But when I consider 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:56.120 the God, the God who has all power, the God 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.120 who has allowed me to face a trial to bring 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:01.480 something good out of me. 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:03.920 See, if we're gonna count it all. 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:07.000 Joy, the only way to do that is to count 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:08.040 it all God. 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:09.839 And if we're gonna count it. 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:13.760 All God, we got to know there is good in 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:20.200 this trial. The decision is to find the good, not 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:23.840 the bad. The decision is to begin to look for 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:27.440 the good. And you know what I've discovered. I've discovered 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:30.200 that most of the time. God wants me to find 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:31.560 the good in myself. 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:36.120 He wants me to mine the gold within me. 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:41.320 You see, He is refining us into pure gold. 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:43.760 It says that he wants us to. 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:50.080 Lack no good thing, to be ready and able to 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:51.640 persevere in this life. 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.920 You see, if we're gonna go higher and hire, we're always. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:58.200 Gonna be facing something because the only way to go hire. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:06:59.640 Is to step up. 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:04.360 See what are you stepping over or stepping up to today? 0:07:05.520 --> 0:07:10.000 Are you taking those difficulties to God? Are you saying, God, 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:14.320 help me find your strength, be my source. Are you 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.200 trying to do it on your own? See when we 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:20.800 do it on our own, that's when we struggle. But 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:25.280 when we realize, when we tap into this joy, we 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:30.720 tap into God, that's when we find our source of strength. See, 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:34.040 there is something called willpower, and we all like to 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.640 think we have it, and we all want to use it. 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:39.920 But let me tell you. 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:42.880 When you're facing a difficulty and God's got you on 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:45.880 an upward plane, it's gonna take more than your willpower. 0:07:46.400 --> 0:07:48.200 It's gonna take God's power. 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:53.040 It's gonna take God's power to bring you to the places. 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:56.000 That he wants to take you don't struggle on your own. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:01.120 Realize the joy of the Lord is his calm, delight, 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:03.160 it's the rest. 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:06.360 In him, It's the peace in him. Do you know? 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:11.280 It's very interesting what we believe about our circumstance will 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:16.600 ultimately cause us to either come out tattered and torn, 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:22.280 beaten and bruised, are built up. Because see, we just 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:24.800 want to get through those those difficulties. 0:08:25.080 --> 0:08:26.560 We're waiting for them to be over. 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:32.040 But God is looking at what we are like when 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:36.640 they're over. He is saying, how did they develop? How 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:40.360 did they grow? What's their attitude? Where can I take them? 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:40.640 Now? 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:45.560 See, God wants us to pass the test. That is, 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:48.640 any good teacher wants you to pass the test. They 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.240 don't give you a test to fail. They give you 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.719 a test to see what you've learned from them. And 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:57.320 God is saying, I want you to pass the test. 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:01.200 I want you to wise up. I want you to 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:06.400 have perseverance. That's what the intention of these trials are. 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:10.520 To give us perseverance, to train us to bring out 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.880 the good in us, the God in us. See, that's 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:17.120 why the enemy works so hard to steal our joy, 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.760 because he knows if we're looking everywhere else. If we're 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:24.960 blaming our friends, it's all about our husband, it's about 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.120 the difficulty at work. When we're looking to lay blame 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:31.760 on everyone else, we forget to look within us. 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:34.920 We look at the problem. 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:38.400 We're chasing the problem instead of chasing the promise. 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:41.320 The promise is in us. 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:45.280 God has put everything we need to accomplish on the 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:47.600 inside of us. We just got to dig it out. 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:51.680 We got to find it. We have got to believe 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:55.000 that this joy is for us to give us strength. 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:59.720 What you're believing about the difficulty you're going through right now, 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.240 what you're believing about where you want to be right now, 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.720 is going to make all the difference in the world 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.679 on how you come out of this difficulty and what 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:13.080 you learn through this difficulty, what you learn through any challenge. 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.520 See, if you're going to go through it, grow through it. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.960 That's what God's saying, Grow through it. It says in 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:25.160 Romans fifteen thirteen. It says, the God of all hope 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:30.720 will fill you with joy and peace in believing. What 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:35.280 are you believing today? Are you believing you're unworthy? Are 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:39.600 believing you can't make it? See no hope and no 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:43.599 faith and no joy will rise with those kind of thoughts. 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:45.840 Are you believing God? 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.640 I am believing as I face this trial, I'm learning something. 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.840 I'm getting something out of this God. I'm believing Father 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:57.880 that I can repent, I can turn away. God. I 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.480 am believing that you are proud of me, and if 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:03.440 you were for me, who dare be against me? I'm 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:07.480 believing that I have all power to overcome, being built 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:13.160 up because of Jesus Christ. See, it's what you're believing 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:14.720 about your situation today. 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.560 I don't give up your joy. 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:25.160 Don't let it elude you. Don't think it's happiness. Happiness 0:11:25.200 --> 0:11:27.400 is good. We all want to be happy. We all 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:30.839 want things to be going our way. The true test 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:34.199 of our faith, the test that's gonna build us, build 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.320 our character, build our perseverance. 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:39.559 It sounds in the trials of life. God doesn't want 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:40.839 you to get beat up in the trial. 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:43.120 He wants you to be built up. Don't let the 0:11:43.240 --> 0:11:46.640 enemy steal your joy. Remember it abides on the inside 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:50.080 of you. It's a gift that'll take you from strength 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:50.960 to strength. Amen. 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:56.440 As a thank you for your support of our ministry 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:58.960 this month, Joel and Victoria would like to send you 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.439 a coffee of joel new series Expect the Unexpected. 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.840 God can surprise you in ways you've never dreamed. He 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:09.080 likes to do unusual things, things you don't see coming. 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:12.840 Raise your expectations and get ready to see God's favor 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:13.600 in new ways. 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.560 You may have reached your limits, but God has no limits. 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:19.679 Request this resource. It will help build your faith so 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.480 you can see the fullness of what God has in store. 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.719 Request your copy of Expect the Unexpected today at Joeloustein 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.480 dot com or call eight eight eight five six seven Joel. 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:33.320 Thirteen years ago, my family and I started listening to 0:12:33.360 --> 0:12:36.200 Joel's messages every week. Since then, we've learned about the 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:38.880 power of prayer. We face a challenge when my mom 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.640 had to have two open heart surgeries. Because of what 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.200 we've learned through this ministry, we were able to stand 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:46.480 faith and we saw God heal her and do a 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:47.800 great miracle in our lives. 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:51.679 Your support is making a difference. Thanks for partnering with 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:56.160 us your prayers, your generosity is touching lives around the world. 0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:58.920 And a special thank you to our Champion of Hope 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.160 partners for all you do to make the ministry possible. 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.760 Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day. 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.960 We're believing for God's very, very best that you're going 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:13.320 to see a bountiful, fruitful, prosperous year until we meet again. 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:16.440 May the Lord bless you and keep you. Remember you're 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:19.440 not average, You're not mediocre. 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