Don't Be Limited By The System

0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:01.960 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:05.279 Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:08.239 the ministry. If you enjoy today's message, why don't you 0:00:08.280 --> 0:00:10.440 be a blessing and share it with a friend. We 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:14.200 appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Well, 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:18.040 God bless you and welcome. Thanks so much for letting 0:00:18.120 --> 0:00:19.240 us come into your homes. 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:20.040 We love you. 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.000 If you're ever in our area, please stop buying be 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.200 a part of one of our services. These are the 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.960 finest people in all of Houston, Texas right here at Lakewood. 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:30.760 Love to have you come out whenever you can. 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:33.920 But thanks for tuning in and thank you again for 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.440 coming out today. I like to get started each week 0:00:36.479 --> 0:00:39.040 with something kind of funny, and I heard about this man. 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:41.479 He was walking up to a country store. 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:44.120 There was a little boy sitting on the front porch 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:47.720 with a big dog sitting next to him. The man said, son, 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:50.320 does your dog bite? He said, no, sir, my dog 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:53.640 doesn't bite. He reached down and started to pet him, 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.640 and the dog took about half of the man's arm off. 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:58.840 He pulled it back. He said, I thought you said 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:01.600 your dog didn't bite. The little boy said that's not 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:06.360 my dog. All right, hold up your Bible. Say it 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.520 like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:11.920 what it says I am. I have what it. 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:12.440 Says I have. 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:15.840 I can do what it says I can do. Today 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:19.600 I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess. 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:23.800 My mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I will 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.720 never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:31.039 I want to talk to you today about not being 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:34.520 limited by the system. And when I say the system, 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:38.240 I'm talking about the normal ways things are done. You 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:41.480 go to work, get a paycheck and that sets your limits. 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:44.560 Or you have dreams and desires, but you. 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.680 Don't have the right connections, you don't have the right education. 0:01:48.200 --> 0:01:51.320 And it's tempting to think I'll never rise any higher. 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:55.200 I'm limited by the system that I'm in. But one 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:58.960 thing I've learned is God likes to go outside the system. 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:04.080 He likes to do unusual, extraordinary things. No matter where 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:07.320 you are in life, no matter what environment you're in, 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:11.240 no matter how impossible your dreams may seem, you need 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:15.079 to know God already has a plan, He already has 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:15.760 a way. 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:17.440 And if you will stay in faith. 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.399 God will go outside the system and take your places 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.639 that you never thought possible. When God needed a new 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:28.480 king for Israel, he didn't choose the most qualified person. 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:32.440 He didn't go to the most influential family and choose 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.480 one of the proven military leaders, someone that had all 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:37.440 this knowledge, all this expertise. 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:40.200 He found a teenager. 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.240 A young shepherd boy that was out taking care of 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:47.520 his father's sheep, the least likely person, and he chose 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.440 this young man, David, to be the next king. God 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:55.240 likes to take ordinary people and use them to do 0:02:55.400 --> 0:03:00.600 extraordinary things. Don't be limited by your system. Look around 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.720 today and think my dreams will never come to pass. 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:06.960 I don't have the money, I don't have the right connections, 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:08.160 I don't have the education. 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:10.280 I guess it just wasn't meant to be. 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.919 No, Actually, you're just the kind of person God loves 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.799 to use, and instead of being discouraged by all that, 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:21.600 you should turn it around and be encouraged, knowing. 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:22.960 That you are prime material. 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:27.400 God likes to go outside the system. When Jesus chose 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:31.400 his twelve disciples, there were great schools of the prophets 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:35.560 back in those days. They were very influential places where 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:40.040 people studied religion, all the laws and the traditions. These 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.640 people were called the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They were 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.440 the prestigious religious leaders of that day. They walked around 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.680 the city in their distinguished robes. They got the best 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:52.520 seats at the city functions. 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.600 But it's interesting Jesus didn't choose any of them. 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:00.760 He didn't choose the most qualified, the most educated, even 0:04:00.800 --> 0:04:04.840 the most influential. And certainly God can use people like that. 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.600 It's good to have education, it's good to have influence. 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:13.240 But very often God will do things outside of the traditional. 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:13.880 Ordinary ways. 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:19.039 Jesus ended up choosing a fisherman, a tax collector. He 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:23.839 chose the equivalent of business people, carpenters, school teachers. 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:27.760 He went outside the system and used them to do 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:29.080 extraordinary things. 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.920 When God needed a pastor, a man that would touch 0:04:32.960 --> 0:04:36.719 people around the world, he didn't choose somebody that came 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.960 from a long line of religious people, someone that had 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:41.560 all the right connections, all. 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:42.440 The right experience. 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.359 He chose a seventeen year old boy that had dropped 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.640 out of high school. My father knew nothing about God. 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.799 He wasn't raised in church. His parents were cotton farmers. 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.160 They lost everything they had during the Great Depression. They 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:01.880 were extremely poor people. My father had no money, no education, 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:06.080 no future to speak of. The system said he would 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:09.919 just barely get by in life, never succeed, never amount 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:10.400 to much. 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:12.640 But God had another plan. 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.960 God went outside the system and took a seventeen year 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:20.919 old boy that was selling popcorn in a theater in 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:24.119 Fort Worth, Texas, and God put a dream in his heart. 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:27.960 My father told how when he first gave his life 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:32.880 to the Lord, he knew one day he would minister 0:05:33.000 --> 0:05:34.280 to thousands of people. 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:35.840 That was unheard of. 0:05:36.600 --> 0:05:40.039 But something new was burst on the inside. He let 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:43.560 the seed take root. He believed he had what it takes. 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:46.640 He knew if God before him, who dare even be 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:47.600 against him? 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:49.080 He didn't really know how to. 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.240 Minister, But six weeks after he gave his life to 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:55.919 the Lord, he was ministering on the street corners, in 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.359 the prisons, in the senior citizens' homes. He didn't know 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:04.320 anything about it. The Bible he called job job. He 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:08.720 called the Psalms the pislems. One time he preached a 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:11.800 whole message on Samson, and when he got finished, he 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:15.840 realized he'd been calling him Tarzan, But. 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:17.080 That didn't bother my father. 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.520 He just kept on keeping on being his best, giving 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:21.159 it his all. 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:23.320 Daddy went back to school. 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:26.040 He not only got his high school diploma, he went 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.800 to college and got his master's degree. God went outside 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:35.000 the system. Don't allow where you are in life right 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.640 now and the things that are not going your way 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:38.919 to cause. 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:41.880 You to give up on your dreams. It may not happen. 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:45.080 Overnight, but if you'll stay in faith, God will move 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:47.919 heaven and earth to get you to where you're supposed 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.279 to be. No person can keep you from your destiny. 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.960 No obstacle can keep you from accomplishing your dreams. It 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:59.720 may look impossible, but God can do the impossible. Stay 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.360 in and just keep pressing forward. I think about how 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:07.600 Lakewood was even started. God went outside the system to. 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:11.960 Birth this ministry. It was Mother's Day in nineteen fifty nine. 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.400 My father had just left a beautiful church that. 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:17.240 He had been pastoring for many years. 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:19.840 He knew God was doing something new in his life, 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:22.800 and he and a handful of people came to an 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:24.320 abandoned feed store. 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:26.520 It was a little rundown building. 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.640 That actually had holes in the floor so you could sweep. 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:31.360 The hay and the feed through here. 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:34.360 They had just come from a beautiful traditional church. You 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:36.840 would have thought God would have had something more impressive, 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:41.960 something more prestigious. But God went outside the system, and 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:43.080 Lakewood was birthed. 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:44.480 In those humble beginnings. 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.960 People told my father back then, you're making a big mistake. 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:50.920 Nobody's gonna come out here. You're in the wrong part 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.480 of town. My parents just shook it off and stayed faithful, 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:58.840 year after year, stuck with it, persistent, determined. Here we 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:00.880 are today, nearly fifty years later. 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:05.840 Still going strong. But what if my father would have said, 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:08.640 I'm not going to a feed store that's out of 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:09.440 the ordinary. 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.560 People may criticize, people may look down on me. 0:08:12.960 --> 0:08:16.120 He would have missed his destiny. When God puts a 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:18.080 promise in your heart, doesn't. 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:20.360 Matter what it looks like in the natural, doesn't matter 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.200 who's criticized, and doesn't matter what's coming against you. You've 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.560 got to stick with it, be faithful, and you will 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.400 see God bring that to pass. This is what Mary 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:30.400 had to do, the mother of Jesus. 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:32.800 She was a teenage girl living in. 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:35.680 A town called Nazareth that was one of the poorest, 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:37.640 most run down cities. 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:38.000 Of that region. 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:40.800 You would think if God was going to choose somebody 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.320 to give birth to his son, he would surely choose 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:48.600 someone from a better location, from a more prestigious environment. 0:08:48.960 --> 0:08:52.360 But once again God went outside the system. He didn't 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:56.280 choose a prominent, influential young lady. Mary was just a 0:08:56.320 --> 0:09:00.320 common girl living in an average family in a lower 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:04.800 income neighborhood. And in Luke one verse thirty, an angel 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:08.400 appeared under her, and he said, Mary, you have found 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:09.560 favor with God. 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:12.680 You're going to give birth to a son. You're to 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:13.959 call him Jesus. 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.160 And of course Mary was startled by it all, and 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:20.840 she asked the question, how can this be? Seeing that 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:23.440 I know not a man. She was saying, in effect, 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:27.720 that's impossible. That defies the laws of nature. I can't 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:29.040 have a baby without a man. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:29.880 How could that be? 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:34.360 The angel answered back, the power of the most tie 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.840 will come upon you and cause you to conceive. Now, 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.920 I love what Mary said. As odd as this seemed, 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:45.440 as impossible as it looked, Mary simply said, be it 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:49.480 unto me, even as you have said. One translation says, 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:52.080 let it happen just as you say. 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:56.120 So that moment, the seed took root in our heart. 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:59.679 When God gives us a promise, it may not make 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:00.839 sin to our mind. 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:03.000 It may be out of the ordinary. 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:06.040 But if we could just do like Mary and say, God, 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:09.640 I receive this, it may look impossible. But God, I 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.319 know you can do the impossible. So I come into 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.720 agreement with you and believe it'll happen just as you 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:19.760 say so. And it's interesting what Mary asked, how can 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:23.480 it happen without a man? She was asking in the physical, 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:26.480 but I believe there's a deeper meaning. God is saying 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.760 you don't have to have people to see your dreams 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:33.360 come to pass. Your friends may not believe in your dreams. 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:36.400 Your coworkers may not think you have what it takes. 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.840 Your own family may think you're just wasting your time. 0:10:40.280 --> 0:10:43.520 But the good news is God does not need them 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:45.679 to bring that promise to fulfillment. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:47.679 Don't allow people to. 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.040 Talk you out of what you know you feel on 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:51.000 the inside. 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:54.080 Your dream is not dependent on other people. 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:58.200 God is saying it can happen without a man. It 0:10:58.240 --> 0:11:01.360 can happen without a banker. It can happen without a doctor. 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:03.439 It can happen without the right boss. 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:04.440 It can happen. 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.319 In spite of what people are saying, You and God. 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:09.920 Are a majority. 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.120 You may not feel like that you have the right connections, 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:15.319 you don't know the right people, you don't come from 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:16.000 the right family. 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:16.640 That's okay. 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:21.680 The scripture says promotion doesn't come from the north, the south, 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.800 the east, and the west. That means promotion doesn't come 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.439 from people, doesn't come from your boss, doesn't come from 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:32.040 your environment. Promotion comes from Almighty God. When God's ready 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:34.400 to promote you, when He's ready to take you to 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.680 a new level, it doesn't matter who you do or 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.000 don't know, it is going to happen. No person can 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:44.320 stand against our God. You may not know the right people, 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:46.839 but you do know the right God, and that's all 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:50.880 that really matters. But so often we think, well, if 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.000 I could just get this person to like me, maybe 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.800 they'll give me a break, maybe they'll give me a promotion, 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:57.080 maybe they'll give me a loan. 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.520 No, it's fine to be good to people, have to 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:01.000 have them. 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:04.280 Your dream is not dependent on the other people, and 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.880 our attitude should be God. I know you put this 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.960 promise in my heart, and I believe it'll come to pass, 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.520 regardless of who I do or don't know, regardless of 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:16.880 who is or who isn't behind me. And when you 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:20.000 get outside of the system, don't be surprised if you 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:23.800 face some judgment and criticism. Don't be surprised if people 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:26.199 start talking trying to make you look bad. 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:28.520 When you have a big dream in. 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.800 Your life, it stirs up small minded people. Small minded 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:37.520 people get jealous, they're intimidated. They're so insecure they feel 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:39.600 like they have to push you down so they can 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:43.080 feel okay about who they are. They don't realize God 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:44.559 has an individual plan for. 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:45.480 Each of our lives. 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:47.800 We're not all going to give birth to the Son 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:50.960 of God. God chose Mary for that. But I've got 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:53.400 to be big enough to celebrate what God's doing in 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.200 her life. Why at the same time knowing that God 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:57.760 has something great in store for me. 0:12:58.160 --> 0:12:59.720 God hasn't left any of us out. 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:03.559 When you see somebody that's out of their box doing 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.160 their best to do what they feel God's put in 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:08.480 their heart, be secure enough. 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:09.120 To cheer them off. 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.600 You may not understand it, Just give them the benefit 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.520 of the doubt and stand with them, not against them. 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:19.640 This is what happened to Mary. Everybody started talking. You 0:13:19.640 --> 0:13:22.040 can imagine what she had to put up with, all 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:24.040 the gossip, people talking behind her back. 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.360 Well, she's having a child, not married. 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:30.560 Even her fiance Joseph, when he first heard that she 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:34.320 was pregnant, he was going to just walk away. Mary 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:37.959 had to endure all this criticism, all this ridicule, but. 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:39.960 She didn't allow it to phase her. 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:43.920 She kept her eyes on the prize. Her attitude was, 0:13:44.360 --> 0:13:46.160 God put this promise in my heart. 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:47.680 It's out of the ordinary. 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:49.600 Sure people are going to criticize, Sure they're not going 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.360 to understand. But the good news is my dream is 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.440 not dependent on them. The power of the most High 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:59.080 has come upon me and it will come to pass. 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.439 Can't be moved by the critics and the naysayers. This 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:07.280 is where so many people get distracted. They lose their 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:11.560 focus and start trying to defend themselves, convince everyone that 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:15.200 they're right. But some people, no matter how hard you try, 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.960 no matter how sincere you are, they're never going to 0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:18.800 agree with you. 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:21.040 One thing I've learned. 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:25.040 Is everyone doesn't have to accept me, and everyone is 0:14:25.080 --> 0:14:26.320 not going to understand me. 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:27.800 And you know what, that's okay. 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:32.000 Don't spend all your time trying to win over your critics. 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.560 Just run your race. After all, God didn't put the 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:38.560 promise in them, He put it in you. You cannot 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:40.720 expect them to understand. 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:41.800 You. 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:46.040 Think about Jesus, he was one of the most controversial 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:50.720 and criticized people that ever lived. And it's interesting he 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:54.840 got more criticism from the religious crowd than he ever 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:58.840 did the secular crowd. The Sadducees and the Pharisees were 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:03.119 so small minded and so caught up in policing their doctrine, 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:06.360 thinking that they were to know it alls. They practically 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:10.160 spent all their time trying to straighten Jesus out. While 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:13.760 he was out changing the world, bring hope, bringing healing, 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.800 making a difference, they were constantly trying to find fault, 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:19.520 trying to tell him what he was doing wrong. In 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.920 case you haven't noticed, the sad Dicees and the Pharisees 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:24.280 are still alive today. 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:26.560 Some of you say, I know they live next. 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:30.080 Door to me, people that anytime you get outside of 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:33.160 their box do something out of the norm, they're going 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:35.320 to find fault and tell you what you're doing wrong. 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.080 We got to learn to do like Jesus, just shake 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:41.800 it off and move on. You may get criticized, you 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:46.520 may even be controversial, but just remember, if God said 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:49.320 it's going to happen, there's nothing other people can do 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:53.120 to keep it from happening. Don't abort your baby, don't 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:57.360 give up on that dring. It may be difficult, it 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:01.080 may not be fair, people may be talking behind your back. 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:05.400 But what I've learned is when you're uncomfortable, when things 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:09.760 are coming against you, that pain is an indication that 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:13.240 you're getting closer to the birth. The enemy would not 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.880 fight you so hard if he didn't already know God 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:19.320 was about to do something that he's never done. 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:21.000 Before in your life. 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:25.600 I remember when I first started ministering nine years ago. 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:27.400 It was very difficult. 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.080 I was not only dealing with the death of my father, 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:32.280 but I was learning how to minister. 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:34.720 This was all very new to me, and. 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:36.480 At one point I felt like there was so much 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.840 coming against me. People were talking and I was already 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.040 not sure if I was able to do this, and 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:45.320 I thought to myself, why am I facing this opposition. 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:47.960 I'm just trying to do my best and carry on 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:50.960 what my parents have started. I'm not bothering anybody else. 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:53.320 But looking back now. 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:57.760 I realize the enemy was coming against me not because 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:01.200 of where I was. He was coming against me because 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:06.520 of where I was going. The enemy, he doesn't fight 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:07.960 you for the present. 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:10.320 He fights you for your future. 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.280 He didn't want me to make it to the Compact Center. 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:15.480 He didn't want me to have a voice of hope 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:16.600 that go around the world. 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:18.639 He didn't want us to come in here every week 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:24.040 and celebrate the goodness of God. You may think, why 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:27.640 am I having these problems. I'm doing my best, being 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:29.880 good to people, give it at my all each day, 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:33.359 not bothering anybody else. Yet things are coming against me 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:35.960 in my finances and my health and my relationships. 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:38.359 It's because of where you're headed. 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:42.200 It's because in your future there are so many great things. 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.960 The enemies trying to discourage you right now and get 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.320 you distracted so you will give up on those dreams. 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:52.200 When times get tough and things aren't going your way, 0:17:52.480 --> 0:17:54.840 that's when you've got to dig your heels in and say, 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:57.400 this may be difficult, it may not be fair. 0:17:57.480 --> 0:17:58.200 People may be. 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.440 Talking, but I'm not going to lose my life joy. 0:18:01.040 --> 0:18:03.159 I know the enemy is not fighting me because of 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:06.600 where I am. He's fighting me because in my future. 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:10.679 There's favor, there's increase, there's promotion, there's God's blessings. He 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:14.760 knows I'm about to give birth to this baby. I 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:18.760 can imagine with Mary, the bigger the baby gaud the 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:22.240 more she showed, the more people talk, the more people criticize, 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.919 made fun sure she hasn't known a man. She's probably 0:18:25.960 --> 0:18:30.120 been running around behind Joseph's back. But Mary wasn't bothered 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:33.760 by the criticism. She didn't get down because of the opposition. 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:37.280 She knew things were coming against her, not because of 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:39.600 where she was, but because of where she was going. 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:43.000 When God puts a promise in your heart, you've got 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:46.879 to be willing to press through the opposition, press through 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:52.400 the unfair accusations, and keep reminding yourself there's nothing anyone 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.480 can do that can keep that dream from coming to pass. 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.159 When it's difficult, when you're uncomfortable and you're kind of 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.320 tempted to give up, you need to realize you are 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.520 getting close to birthing that baby. The greater the pain, 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.880 the closer you are to giving birth. And so when 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:12.360 things are coming against you, and every time you turn 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:16.600 around your face opposition, that just means your contractions are 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.240 getting faster and faster. You're gonna give birth before you 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.720 know it. You got to have that promise so deep 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:26.679 on the inside. Nothing's gonna cause you to quit and 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:29.879 give up. The promise may be as for me and 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:32.919 my house, we will serve the Lord. Even if your 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.560 family member makes fun of you, even if the more 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:38.560 you pray, the worse they get. That's okay, that's just 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.840 a contraction. You're getting closer. It's a matter of time 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:45.840 before they come in. Maybe it's in your health. The 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:48.600 promise is God is restoring health into me. I'm gonna 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:51.159 come out of this sickness. Your natural mind will tell 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:54.000 you you're a goner. Nobody's ever done it before. No, 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:58.040 you can be the first. With God, all things are possible. Well, Joe, 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:01.760 the doctors have told me nothing more medical science can do. 0:20:02.480 --> 0:20:03.119 That's okay. 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:06.280 The good news is Man has nothing to do with 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:07.879 that promise from coming to pass. 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:10.200 It's not up to people. It's up to God. 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.159 And that's just what they told my mother back in 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:16.119 nineteen eighty one, cancer of the liver, a few weeks 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:16.520 to live. 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:19.760 My mother she fought the good fight of faith. It 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:23.000 was difficult. She didn't feel well, but she kept pressing through. 0:20:23.600 --> 0:20:26.720 The harder it got, the more she realized the closer 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:28.800 she was to giving birth to that miracle. 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:33.719 It didn't happen overnight, but little by little God intervened. 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.520 Today she's perfectly healthy in whole, twenty six years later. 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:45.240 Don't allow the opposition and the tough times to cause 0:20:45.280 --> 0:20:46.280 you to get discouraged. 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:48.440 Just see it as another contraction. 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:53.480 I'm pushing this baby out is getting a little bit closer. Well, 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:56.400 it finally came time for Mary to have her baby. 0:20:56.640 --> 0:20:57.800 But isn't it interesting? 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:00.879 The scripture says there was no room for her in 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:04.840 the end. In today's language, there was no hospital available, 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:07.960 no clinic that had in his face, no hotel, not 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:11.720 even a home. But Mary was so full of that promise. 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:15.480 She knew great things could be birthed outside the system. 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:19.159 She basically went to a barn with the other animals. 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:22.000 She gave birth to the son of the Living God. 0:21:22.720 --> 0:21:23.600 You may feel like. 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:27.040 Sometimes in life that the system is shutting you out. 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.480 You work so hard, but you didn't get the promotion 0:21:30.680 --> 0:21:34.080 you deserved. You got overlooked, or a good friend betrayed 0:21:34.119 --> 0:21:37.199 you did you wrong. That's how Mary must have felt, 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:40.240 but God said, Mary, don't worry about it. I'm still 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:43.280 in control. They don't have to let my son in. 0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:46.400 I'll go outside the system and you can still give 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.280 birth to that baby. When it comes time for your 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:53.040 promise to be born, all the forces of darkness cannot 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:55.879 stop it from coming. The system may not let you in, 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:58.920 but God will go outside the system and still bring 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:03.840 it to pass. Sometimes the system is too small for 0:22:03.920 --> 0:22:04.679 your dream. 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:06.520 Sometimes God has to. 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:10.440 Move you away from the people you're around because they're limiting. 0:22:10.520 --> 0:22:12.720 You may be a little uncomfortable. 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:15.120 You may not like it, but God knows he has 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:18.280 to get you out of that narrow minded environment so 0:22:18.320 --> 0:22:20.639 you can give birth to the great things He's. 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:21.280 Put in your heart. 0:22:22.119 --> 0:22:25.359 You may not be birthing a baby, but you're birthing 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:28.960 a dream, birth in a vision, birth in a ministry, 0:22:29.160 --> 0:22:32.760 birth in a business. Be willing to get outside your system. 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:36.200 It may be too small. That's what happened to us 0:22:36.440 --> 0:22:39.280 a few years back. We were looking for property to 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:42.520 build a new sanctuary on and I did the normal thing, 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:45.280 went out and tried to find a place close to 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:49.320 our other location. We needed one hundred acres to accommodate 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:52.640 all the parking, and after some time we found two 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:56.000 tracts of land, but both times that property was sold 0:22:56.080 --> 0:22:58.760 right out from under us. It looked like the system 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:01.920 was shutting us out, and there were no more big 0:23:01.960 --> 0:23:04.119 tracks of land, not in close in a big city 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:04.800 like Houston. 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:06.280 I was very discouraged. 0:23:06.640 --> 0:23:09.280 I said, God, I know you put bigger things in 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:11.840 my heart. I know we're not supposed to stay here 0:23:11.840 --> 0:23:14.600 and turn people away. But it looked like we had 0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:16.639 hit a dead end. It looked like there were no 0:23:16.720 --> 0:23:20.560 more options. But no God still had a plan. Even 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:24.480 though the system shut us out. God went outside the system. 0:23:24.800 --> 0:23:28.200 He did something outside of the ordinary. It was about 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:31.200 six months after that that I got word that this place, 0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:35.679 the former Compact Center, was coming available. My first thought was, 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:38.400 that's a sports arena. That's not a church. 0:23:38.480 --> 0:23:39.240 We can't do that. 0:23:39.680 --> 0:23:43.200 It's out of the norm. I had to enlarge my vision. 0:23:43.640 --> 0:23:45.400 I had to make room for it in my thinking. 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:48.080 I had to conceive it in my heart. When I 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:51.679 finally did that, I thought, how much money is that 0:23:51.760 --> 0:23:55.240 place gonna cost. That's the city's premier facility, is on 0:23:55.280 --> 0:23:58.080 the main freeway. Even if they were to sell it 0:23:58.119 --> 0:24:01.520 to us, how could we possibly ford it. All these 0:24:01.600 --> 0:24:04.440 doubts were filling my mind. I was tempted to give 0:24:04.520 --> 0:24:07.399 up before we even started. I was saying, like, Mary, 0:24:07.640 --> 0:24:11.120 how can this be? It's never happened before. But instead 0:24:11.119 --> 0:24:14.600 of staying in my little box with that nearrow minded thinking, 0:24:14.960 --> 0:24:17.240 I said, Okay, God, if you say. 0:24:17.080 --> 0:24:19.639 It can happen, I'm going to get on board. Be 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:24.040 it under me. Even as you have said. And it's interesting. 0:24:25.560 --> 0:24:28.680 To build a new facility like this from the ground 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:32.080 up would cost four hundred million dollars. We ended up 0:24:32.119 --> 0:24:35.520 getting this place for twelve million dollars. The land alone 0:24:35.720 --> 0:24:39.520 is worth more than that. God went outside the system 0:24:39.920 --> 0:24:42.240 and he did more than we could even ask or think. 0:24:42.880 --> 0:24:45.440 You may feel like today that the system is shutting 0:24:45.480 --> 0:24:45.960 you out. 0:24:46.359 --> 0:24:48.640 One door after another keeps closing. 0:24:49.280 --> 0:24:53.320 I found sometimes God closed his doors because we're thinking 0:24:53.359 --> 0:24:53.960 too small. 0:24:54.600 --> 0:24:57.160 It's not that it's not going to happen, but when 0:24:57.200 --> 0:24:58.560 God does it, it's going. 0:24:58.440 --> 0:25:01.040 To be bigger and better and greater than you've even 0:25:01.160 --> 0:25:06.119 ever imagined. When you look at your situation today, in 0:25:06.160 --> 0:25:09.960 your finances, in your relationships, maybe in your health, it's 0:25:10.000 --> 0:25:12.320 tempting to say, Joel, I don't see how it can happen. 0:25:12.800 --> 0:25:15.320 Medical science has told me there's nothing more they can 0:25:15.359 --> 0:25:17.800 do for me. No, God is saying I can go 0:25:17.880 --> 0:25:21.520 outside the system. I can heal you without taking the treatment. 0:25:22.080 --> 0:25:24.520 I can give you a loan without the banker that 0:25:24.520 --> 0:25:27.360 you're counting on. I can give you a sports arena 0:25:27.440 --> 0:25:29.360 when you're looking for an empty piece of property. 0:25:29.600 --> 0:25:31.760 The system does not set the limits. 0:25:32.600 --> 0:25:35.160 You may have a dream in your heart that's bigger 0:25:35.200 --> 0:25:38.679 than your finances. It's bigger than your education, bigger than 0:25:38.720 --> 0:25:39.520 anything that. 0:25:39.480 --> 0:25:40.880 Your family has ever done. 0:25:41.240 --> 0:25:43.880 And it's easy to think, well, I don't have the expertise, 0:25:44.240 --> 0:25:46.000 I don't have the connections, I don't have the right 0:25:46.040 --> 0:25:49.600 people behind me. No, it may be bigger than your system, 0:25:49.960 --> 0:25:54.359 but be encouraged today. God specializes in going outside the 0:25:54.440 --> 0:25:58.320 system and doing extraordinary things. You may not have the 0:25:58.400 --> 0:26:02.080 right connections, but you, you and God are a majority. 0:26:02.600 --> 0:26:05.800 Your dream is not dependent on other people. When he 0:26:05.840 --> 0:26:10.600 gets difficult, when you're uncomfortable, remember that's just another contraction. 0:26:11.000 --> 0:26:13.760 You're getting closer to give birth to that baby. Stay 0:26:13.800 --> 0:26:14.280 in faith. 0:26:14.800 --> 0:26:17.919 God loves to take ordinary people and use them to 0:26:17.960 --> 0:26:22.520 do extraordinary things. You have not seen your best days yet. 0:26:23.080 --> 0:26:26.440 God is about to propel you into new levels. He's 0:26:26.480 --> 0:26:29.480 going to take you places that you never even thought possible. 0:26:29.960 --> 0:26:32.320 I declare over each one of you that every dream, 0:26:32.800 --> 0:26:36.080 every desire, every promise, I'll say it for all of us. 0:26:36.119 --> 0:26:37.080 God be it. 0:26:37.160 --> 0:26:40.359 Unto us, even as you have said you will see 0:26:40.359 --> 0:26:41.160 that come to pass. 0:26:41.200 --> 0:26:42.919 Amen. Do you receive it today? 0:26:44.800 --> 0:26:47.480 Or? We never like to close our broadcast without giving 0:26:47.480 --> 0:26:50.480 you an opportunity to make Jesus the lord of your life. 0:26:50.760 --> 0:26:51.760 Would you pray with me? 0:26:52.400 --> 0:26:58.879 Just say, Lord, Jesus, come into my heart, make me clean. 0:27:00.119 --> 0:27:01.800 I make you my Lord and savior. 0:27:03.240 --> 0:27:03.760 Amen. 0:27:03.920 --> 0:27:06.280 Well, we believe you got born again. Get in a 0:27:06.320 --> 0:27:10.080 good Bible based church. Keep God first place. He's going 0:27:10.160 --> 0:27:12.560 to take your places that you've never even dreamed of. 0:27:15.040 --> 0:27:20.080 Are you in a situation where you feel lost, afraid, hopeless, 0:27:20.400 --> 0:27:25.159 where there seems to be no solutions, no answers, no 0:27:25.320 --> 0:27:28.639 way out. It's time for your turnaround. 0:27:28.920 --> 0:27:31.880 We all face situations that look like they'll never change. 0:27:31.920 --> 0:27:34.840 It's easy to get discouraged. I love to send you 0:27:34.920 --> 0:27:37.560 my book Turn Around, How God can take you from 0:27:37.560 --> 0:27:41.120 a setback to a comeback where you'll discover how God 0:27:41.160 --> 0:27:46.040 can turn sickness into health. Lack into abundance, addictions into freedom. 0:27:46.520 --> 0:27:49.960 It'll inspire you to keep believing and have an expectancy 0:27:50.040 --> 0:27:53.640 for things to turn in your favor. Recent weeks, we've 0:27:53.640 --> 0:27:57.560 been celebrating the incredible life of my mother, her miraculous 0:27:57.600 --> 0:28:02.240 turnaround story of overcoming terminals over forty years ago. It's 0:28:02.280 --> 0:28:06.159 a testimonia the power of God's promises. Just because you 0:28:06.200 --> 0:28:09.000 don't see a way doesn't mean God doesn't have a way. 0:28:09.240 --> 0:28:12.040 Stay in faith, your turnaround is on the way. 0:28:12.840 --> 0:28:15.240 As our way of saying thank you for your gift 0:28:15.280 --> 0:28:17.879 of any amount, this month, we would like to send 0:28:17.880 --> 0:28:21.240 you a copy of Joel's brand new book, turn Around. 0:28:21.440 --> 0:28:24.720 How God Can take You from setback to come Back. 0:28:25.119 --> 0:28:30.520 Through biblical examples, real life applications, and practical encouragement, you'll 0:28:30.600 --> 0:28:34.280 learn to see challenges through a faith filled perspective. Each 0:28:34.320 --> 0:28:37.880 section highlights a faith turnaround point to help you see 0:28:37.920 --> 0:28:39.280 a positive change. 0:28:39.040 --> 0:28:40.520 In your life. 0:28:40.600 --> 0:28:43.960 As you meditate on His promises, you'll begin to see 0:28:44.000 --> 0:28:49.080 your greatest challenges turn around. These power packed life transforming 0:28:49.160 --> 0:28:53.400 stories will shift your mindset, strengthen your faith, and turn 0:28:53.480 --> 0:28:57.960 your trials into triumphs. Request your copy today and see 0:28:58.000 --> 0:29:00.960 the turnaround and breakthrough you've been waiting for. 0:29:02.080 --> 0:29:04.360 God won't let you get in a problem that He 0:29:04.400 --> 0:29:07.920 can't bring you out of. There are turnarounds in your future. 0:29:08.400 --> 0:29:11.160 Thanks so much for being with us today. Victoria and 0:29:11.240 --> 0:29:13.720 I pray for you and your family and we sure 0:29:13.760 --> 0:29:17.800 appreciate your prayer and support. Your generosity is helping bring 0:29:17.880 --> 0:29:21.200 hope to people around the world. Special thank you to 0:29:21.280 --> 0:29:24.280 our Champion of Hope partners for your monthly gifts. If 0:29:24.320 --> 0:29:27.120 you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. 0:29:27.520 --> 0:29:31.000 Remember you can watch the services online every Sunday morning, 0:29:31.440 --> 0:29:35.320 download our daily podcast, watch on YouTube the new Joel 0:29:35.360 --> 0:29:37.160 Hoasting Network social media. 0:29:37.440 --> 0:29:38.560 Of course, you can listen. 0:29:38.360 --> 0:29:41.160 Serious XM twenty four hours a day. We'll keep you 0:29:41.240 --> 0:29:44.520 encouraged and inspired until we see you next time. 0:29:44.840 --> 0:29:46.880 Mad The Lord bless you and keep you. 0:29:47.640 --> 0:29:50.960 Be sure to request your copy of Turnaround How God 0:29:51.040 --> 0:29:54.720 Can Take You from Setback to come Back. Visit Joelostin 0:29:54.840 --> 0:29:58.160 dot com or call eight eight eight five six seven 0:29:58.400 --> 0:30:02.080 Joel for an addition donation. This month, we are also 0:30:02.200 --> 0:30:06.160 offering the Turnaround Faith duo, one for you and one 0:30:06.200 --> 0:30:09.280 to share with a friend or family member to encourage them. 0:30:09.600 --> 0:30:12.440 You can also request the Turnaround Victory Collection. 0:30:12.920 --> 0:30:13.960 It includes two. 0:30:13.960 --> 0:30:19.880 Turnaround books and the beautiful set of three wooden encouragement blocks, Happy, Healthy, 0:30:20.080 --> 0:30:24.440 and Free, each featuring and uplifting scripture. You can request 0:30:24.480 --> 0:30:28.480 these inspiring resources by calling eight eight eight five six 0:30:28.600 --> 0:30:32.720 seven Joel or logging on to joelostein dot com Today 0:30:33.360 --> 0:30:37.000 call or click anytime, twenty four hours a day your 0:30:37.160 --> 0:31:01.160 life is about to turn around. Request these resources today 0:31:01.560 --> 0:31:05.920 to remember