Faith Not Fear

0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:03.520 Hi, this is Jolan Victorian. Thanks so much for listening 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:04.399 to the podcast. 0:00:04.519 --> 0:00:06.960 Don't forget I have a new book out, fifteen Ways 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:10.120 to Live Longer and Healthier. I think you'll be blessed 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:12.520 and encouraged by it. We love you so much and 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:14.320 we hope you enjoyed the message. 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.120 God bless you, and it said joy to come into 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:19.880 your homes. And if you're ever in the Houston area, 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:22.759 please stop by be a part of one of our services. 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:25.560 I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:28.120 But thank you so much for tuning in today. Thank 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:30.400 you again for coming out. I like to start with 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:33.400 something funny and I heard about this middle aged woman. 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:36.840 She had a heart attack and on the operating table 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:39.560 she asked God if this was it. God said, no, 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:43.920 you have forty more years. Upon recovery, she decided to 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:49.159 stay in the hospital and have a facelift, tummy tuck, liposuction, 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.880 and extreme makeover. Two months later, as she was leaving 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:55.880 the hospital, she was hit by a car and killed. 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:58.560 Got to heaven, said God. I thought, she said, I 0:00:58.600 --> 0:01:01.800 had forty more years. God said, I'm sorry I didn't 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:06.319 recognize you. Hold up your Bible. Say it like you 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:09.240 mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:11.680 says I am. I have what it says I have. 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:14.679 I can do what it says I can do. Today 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:17.440 I will be taught the word of God. I boldly 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:21.319 confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:25.319 will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.679 I want to talk to you today about activating faith 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.440 and not fear. All through the day, we have the 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:37.200 choice to believe that either God is in control and 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:41.800 good things are in store, or we can go around worried, negative, 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:45.959 expecting the worst. I hear people say, I'm afraid I'm 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.920 going to get laid off. I'm afraid my marriage is 0:01:48.920 --> 0:01:51.840 not going to last. I'm afraid my children are going 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:55.480 to get into trouble. They don't realize it, but they're 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:58.120 activating fear instead of faith. 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:01.520 Fear and faith have something in common. 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:05.160 They both ask us to believe something is going to 0:02:05.240 --> 0:02:09.280 happen that we cannot see. Fear says that pain in 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:11.040 your side is the same thing. 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:13.040 Your grandmother died from. It's going to be the end 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:13.359 of you. 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.840 Faith says that pain is not permanent, it's only temporary. 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:22.240 Fear says business is slow, you're going to go under. 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:26.560 Faith says God is supplying all of my needs. Fear 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:29.320 says you've been through so much, you're never going to 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:33.280 really be happy again. Faith says, my best days are 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:34.320 still out in front of me. 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:35.720 Here's the key. 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:39.800 Whatever you meditate on is what's going to take root. 0:02:40.680 --> 0:02:43.799 If you dwell on that fear all day, you let 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:46.800 it play again and again in your mind, then you 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.280 give it a right to become a reality. That's what 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:54.800 Job said. The thing I feared came upon me. Fear 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.840 is using your faith in the wrong direction. Your faith 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:01.080 will work in the negative just as well as it 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:04.720 will the positive. I was at the doctor's office with 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:07.880 our daughter Alexandra one time, and as the doctor was 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:11.160 examining her, he began to talk about how bad the 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.280 flu season was and how he gets it every year. 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:17.000 I said, doctor, do you really get it every year? 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:20.760 He said, yeah, Joel, it's just automatic with me, something 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:22.240 about my immune system. 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:25.799 He was so convinced he was expecting it. 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:29.079 Six weeks later, we were scheduled to go back for 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:33.200 Alexandra's checkup. His office call said, don't come today. The 0:03:33.280 --> 0:03:36.600 doctor is out with the flu. I thought, his faith 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:39.800 is working. He got just what he was believing for 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.280 the problem is he was using it in the wrong direction. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:48.680 Just as faith can bring in good things, fear can 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:53.000 bring in negative things. When you go around worried expecting 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:57.920 the worst, it's like you're inviting that into your life. Well, 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:00.160 I'm afraid I'm going to get the flu. You just 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.400 just invited the flu. I'm afraid I might get laid off. 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:06.840 You just invited a lay off. No turn it around. 0:04:07.320 --> 0:04:12.840 Quit inviting defeat, sickness, bad breaks, and start inviting victory 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:13.840 into your life. 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:15.920 Use your faith in the right direction. 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:20.039 Years ago, I was facing a situation that had the 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:21.600 potential to turn out badly. 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.040 It had gone on for months and months. 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.880 Every morning when I woke up, the first thought that 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.400 came to my mind is it's not going to work out. 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:33.480 It's going to cause you all kinds of heartache and pain. 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.480 That's the way fear is. It will try to dominate 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:41.400 your thought life. If you allow it, fear will keep 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.359 you awake at night. I was so tempted to be 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.760 worried and stressed out. One day I heard God say 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.799 something to me, not out loud, but just an impression 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:54.160 down in here. He said, Joel, if you keep worrying 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:57.520 and going over all the reasons why it's not going 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:01.240 to work out, then because of your worry, it's going 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:04.359 to come to pass. But if you will trust me 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.480 and use that same energy to believe, I will turn 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:11.599 it around and use it to your advantage. 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.480 When I heard that, I gained a new perspective. 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:20.120 I realized that fear, worry, negative thinking is not just 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:24.760 a bad habit that allows the negative to become a reality. 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:28.599 Read an article in the paper a while back about 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:32.000 a twenty four year old marine He was about to 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:35.960 report to his second tour of duty in Iraq. Before 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:39.080 he left, he told his family and friends this would 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:42.560 be his last tour. He would not make it out. 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:46.320 Family friends, they tried to encourage him. Don't say that, Yes, 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:48.440 you're going to make it out, he said, Now I 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:49.640 feel it so strongly. 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:51.080 This is going to be the end. 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.680 Before he left, he wrote farewell letters to his wife 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:59.440 and two children, telling them goodbye. Who was not only 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:02.880 convinced in his thinking, but he acted on that fear. 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.040 Three months later, while he was on a mission, just 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:11.200 like he thought, he hit a landmine and lost his life. 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:15.120 The thing he feared came upon him. But I wonder 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:18.680 what would have happened if he were to replaced that 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:20.200 fear with faith. 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:23.520 What if he'd have gone around saying, Father, thank. 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:26.880 You that no weapon formed against me were prosper Lord, 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:30.040 you promised your angels would watch over me and keep 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:31.160 me from dashing. 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:34.520 My foot against a stone. I don't know. Maybe he 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.599 would still be here, but I know this. When you 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:38.320 agree with. 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:42.360 Fear, you are giving what you're fearing the right to 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:45.680 come to pass. The scripture talks about how when any 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:49.200 two of us agree, it shall be done. That's a 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:52.520 promise that when we stand in faith with another believer, 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.760 God will do what he said. Well, I believe that 0:06:55.960 --> 0:07:00.359 principle is true even in the negative. When the enemy 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:04.240 puts a thought in your mind, if you agree, then 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:07.279 your agreement is what gives it the power to come 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:11.960 to pass. But if you don't agree, you turn it around. 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:15.640 The thought says your children are going to get into trouble. No, 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.720 I don't agree. My children will be mighty in the land. 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.760 My children will fulfill their destiny. You just stop that 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:26.280 fear from coming to pass. The thought says you better 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:28.320 not go out today, you're going to have an accident. 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:29.400 No, I don't agree. 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:33.040 God has a hedge of protection around me, a bloodline 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.640 that the enemy cannot cross. Well, that sickness is going 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:38.120 to be what you die from. 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:39.160 It's been in your. 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:42.520 Family line for three generations. No thanks, I don't agree 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:44.960 with long life. God's going to satisfy me. 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:50.040 Here's the key. Don't come into agreement with the fear. 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:54.000 If you don't agree. The only way it can come 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.880 to pass is if God gives it the permission. 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:00.400 And if God does, you can rest assured it's not 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:01.680 gonna work against you. 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:03.200 It's gonna work for you. 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.480 Now, pay attention to what you're coming into agreement with. 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.120 When our son Jonathan was a little baby, I was 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.720 holding him at a restaurant while we were eating. This 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:18.360 older couple came up and started complimenting us on how 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:22.080 good Jonathan was and how quiet he was being. But 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.679 just before they left, the man turned around and said, 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.560 but you just wait till he gets to be about 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:31.840 two years old. He'll turn into a different person. 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:35.400 He's good now, but the terrible twos are coming. 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.199 I wanted to say thank you so much for your 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:42.320 encouragement and lifting my spirits. I told Victoria, I don't 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.560 receive that. I don't agree with that. I am not 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.720 letting that take root into my spirit. I said, for us, 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:51.800 now gonna be the terrible twos. It's gonna be the 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:52.680 terrific twos. 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:54.800 Do you know we never had a. 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:58.040 Problem when he was two, three, four, he got to 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.440 be about ten, people started saying, just wait till he 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:05.720 gets to be a teenager. You're talking about a headache, trouble, 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:07.320 hard to get along with you. 0:09:07.520 --> 0:09:07.960 Just wait. 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:12.559 Jonathan is almost eighteen years old. Now, our daughter Alexandra 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:17.600 is fourteen. Do you know they still hadn't started cursing, lying, stealing, fight, 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:21.600 still hadn't caused us any problems. Next thing, people say, 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:24.120 you just wait till he gets to be twenty one, 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:27.720 Wait till he's legal, Joel, Wait till he hits forty 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:33.520 that midlife crisis, Wait till he's seventy five. No, I 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:36.800 am not coming into agreement with fear and doubt and 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:41.560 bad breaks, disappointments. I'm activating my faith and not my fear. 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:48.160 If you expect your children, your loved ones, to get 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:52.000 into troubled cause your heartache and to barely make it 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.840 through life. Then, because you're putting faith in the fear 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.280 that allows it to come to pass, you're believing it in. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.440 It's like this lady I heard about every night for 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:07.319 years and years. Practically she thought she heard a burglar 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:11.160 downstairs in her kitchen. She would make her husband get 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:13.840 up at least once a week and go make sure 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:14.920 everything was okay. 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:17.240 One night she thought she heard some noise. 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:20.760 Honey, wake up, somebody's down in our kitchen. He got 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:24.120 up so routinely, like he had done a thousand times before. 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:25.160 This time. 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:28.720 When he walked downstairs, he was staring down the barrel 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:29.520 of a gun. 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:31.280 His eyes got so big. 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:34.680 The burglar said, don't make a sound, just give me 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:38.240 all your valuables. Gathered up the valuables, gave them to 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:41.280 the burglar. The burglar turned around, was about to run off. 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:44.319 He said, wait a minute. You can't go yet. You 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.920 got to come up and meet my wife. She's been 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:53.280 expecting you for thirty years. Friends don't go through life 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:59.880 expecting disappointments, bad breaks, disasters. That's putting faith in the 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:05.040 fear that allows it to become a reality. Second Timoth, 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:09.120 That was good, wasn't it? Two Timothy One? Point seven 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:12.360 says God has not given us a spirit of fear, 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:16.600 but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:22.120 The amplified says a disciplined mind. In other words, we're 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:26.520 not going to overcome fear and live a powerful, victorious 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:30.120 life if we're not disciplined in our thought life. 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:35.120 That's where the main battle is taking place. Your mind 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:37.680 is the bull's eye of the enemy's target. 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.439 If he can control your thoughts, he can control your 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:44.960 whole life. If you don't guard your mind, it will 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:49.920 default back to these thoughts of fear, worry, anxiety, negativity. 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.160 Last week, a mother asked me to pray. 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:53.560 For her son. 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.040 She said, Joel, I'm so worried. I'm afraid he's going 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.520 to get into trouble. I'm afraid he's going to start 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:01.520 running with the wrong craft, on and on. 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.280 I said, is he off course now? 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:08.240 She said no, He's a great kid, straight, a student, 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:12.120 loving and kind. I'm just afraid it's not going to last. 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.120 Told her what I'm telling you. Don't come into agreement 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:20.080 with that fear. It says in Psalms, God's favor is 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:23.880 not for a season, but for a lifetime. When those 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.000 thoughts try to tell you it's not going to last. 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:27.400 It's too good to be true. 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:29.319 No, turn it around. Father. 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.280 I want to thank you that your favor on my life, 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:36.200 on my children, on my career, on my future. It's 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:39.720 not temporary, it's not seasonal. It doesn't come and go. 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:44.040 But God, your favor is for a lifetime. You've got 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:48.240 to be disciplined in your thought life. Your thoughts are 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:52.720 extremely powerful. Heard about this lady that brought a six 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.640 foot plant for her bedroom. 0:12:55.000 --> 0:12:58.240 Was a fiight astree. She had plants all over the house. 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:01.760 She was very experienced with plants, and one morning she 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:03.320 woke up looked. 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:06.080 At that plant. Out of the blue, this thought said, 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:08.959 this plant is not going to make it. It's going 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:09.559 to die. 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:13.160 Was as healthy as can be, nothing wrong with it. 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:16.560 There was no reason to believe that thought. But she 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.040 made the mistake of thinking of it over and over. 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.920 She even told her husband, I'm afraid this plant is 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.840 not going to make it. I'm afraid I wasted my money. 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:29.440 He said, why would you say that. It's perfectly healthy. 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.439 All your other plants are doing just fine. She said, no, 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.200 something just tells me it's not going to make it. 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:39.080 About three weeks later, she noticed the leaves were starting 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.040 to turn yellow. A couple of days later, all the 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.720 leaves had fallen off of it. Week or two later, 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:46.160 the whole plant had. 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.920 Totally withered up and died. Was amazing to her. 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:54.079 One day she was praying, she said she heard God 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:56.680 say something to her write down in here. He said, 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:01.760 you killed that plant with your thoughts. Sent chill bumps 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:05.199 up and down her spine. When we agree with the fear, 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:09.040 it can come to pass. Later, she told her husband, 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.280 I know this sounds totally crazy, but I think I 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:12.959 killed the. 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:14.320 Plant with my thoughts. 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.559 He looked at her very strangely said all I can 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.200 say is I hope you're thinking good thoughts about me. 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:27.040 But I wonder how many times have we killed. 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:28.320 Our dreams with our thoughts? 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:33.320 How many times have we stopped God's blessings favor healing, 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:37.320 restoration because we're dwelling on the fear. A lot of 0:14:37.360 --> 0:14:41.120 people like this lady go around with a nagging feeling 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.680 that something's not gonna work out. I'm afraid my business 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.600 is gonna drive. I'm afraid I'm not gonna stay healthy. 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:48.640 I'm afraid my. 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:52.200 Child's gonna get off course because they're not disciplined in 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:53.120 their thought life. 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:55.360 They allow that fear to take root. 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.920 On my father's side of the family, there's a long 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.360 line of heart disease, high blood pressure, high pretension. Well, 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:05.080 that's what my father died from, and his father and 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:07.960 as well as others in our family. It would be 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:11.120 easy for me to let that take root. Think, Hey, man, 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:14.000 that's just my lot in life. I'm afraid I'll probably 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:17.000 get heart disease too. No, I've learned to be disciplined. 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.840 I'm not going to activate fear. I'm going to activate faith. Father, 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.400 I want to thank you that heart disease high blood 0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:24.560 pressure stops with me. 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:27.359 I will live out all of my days. 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:31.200 In good health. See, don't agree with the fear. Agree 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:34.640 with what God says about you. My grandmother on the 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.960 daddy's side of the family was a very feisty woman. 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:42.120 She reminded me of Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies. She 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.160 was one of a kind, and later in life she 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:48.240 went to the doctrine. He said, I'm sorry to inform you, 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:52.080 miss Ostein, but you have the very beginning stages of 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:57.160 Parkinson's disease. Well, that did not set well with grandmother ostine. 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.680 She didn't even know what Parkinson's disease was, but she 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.200 knew enough to know she didn't want to have anything 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:07.240 to do with them. She bristled back, stood up tall. 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.480 She's way less than five feet. She said, listen here, doctor, 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:14.120 I'll not have it. I refuse to have it. I'm 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:15.240 too old to have it. 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:21.080 My grandmother went home, and do you know she never 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:24.880 had any symptoms of Parkinson's disease. She lived out her 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:26.160 days in good health. 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:31.000 And I know we can't just wish things away. But 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:35.200 I also know when you choose faith instead of fear, 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:39.040 it activates God's power. That's what allows God to turn 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:42.040 things around. She could have gone home and thought, well, 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:44.120 just my luck. I knew it wouldn't last. 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:45.080 Too good to be true. 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:49.040 No, she didn't come into agreement with that fear. I 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:51.720 talked to a young couple after the service. They were 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.840 very discouraged. They'd been trying to have a baby for 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:58.640 many years. For some reason, the young lady couldn't conceive 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:02.520 it had been so doctors and everything seemed to find. 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.560 They couldn't understand why she couldn't get pregnant. 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.600 She was very frustrated. She said Joel. 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:12.639 The funny thing is, my mother had a terrible time conceiving. 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:16.719 My grandmother had the same problem. Ever since I've been 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.800 a little girl, I've been afraid that I wouldn't be 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:20.280 able to. 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:20.840 Have a baby. 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.520 Like the scripture says, the thing she feared came upon her. 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:29.800 It had created a stronghold in her mind. She didn't 0:17:29.880 --> 0:17:31.000 think she could conceive. 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.320 The first place we lose the battle is in our 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:36.639 own thinking. Here's the good news. 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:41.040 Just as you activate fear, you can start activating your faith. 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:42.800 That's what I told her. 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:46.119 Instead of going through the day worried thinking about how 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:49.480 it's not going to work out, start meditating on what 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:53.000 God says about you, things like Father, you said. 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:54.560 The fruit of my womb is blessed. 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.719 Lord you said in Psalms, you'd make me the happy 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:01.360 mother of children. God you said, because I delight myself 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:03.960 in you, you would give me the desires of my heart. 0:18:04.359 --> 0:18:06.879 So Lord, I want to thank you. I am able 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:11.080 to conceive. She started activating her faith. Now about a 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.520 year later I saw this couple. They were beaming with joy. 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.880 She was pregnant with the little boy. Today that child 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:19.800 is happy and whole, but. 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:20.560 Here's my point. 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:24.359 I don't know if that would have happened if she 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:28.720 had not changed what she was meditating on. Fear can 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:33.159 create a barrier. Wrong thinking can keep you from God's best. 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.119 If you're going to live in victory, you've got to 0:18:36.119 --> 0:18:39.640 be disciplined in your thought life. What you dwell on 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.239 is what you're inviting in. That's what you allow to 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:47.000 become a reality. I heard a story about a man 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:50.520 named Nick. He was a big, strong, tough man, and 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.159 he'd worked out in the railroad yards for many, many years, 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:56.640 and he was one of the company's most reliable employees. 0:18:57.080 --> 0:19:01.639 But Nick was a chronic warrior, always fearing the worst, 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:03.760 talking about what might happen. 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:06.520 One summer day, the crew was. 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:09.439 Told that they could leave an hour early to attend 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:13.080 a birthday party of one of the foreman's Nick was 0:19:13.119 --> 0:19:16.960 out working in one of the refrigerated box cars when 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:21.560 somehow he accidentally got locked inside. Didn't have a cell phone, 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:25.919 a radio, everybody else was gone. When he realized he 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:29.560 was trapped in that car, he began to panic. He 0:19:29.680 --> 0:19:33.240 started screaming at the top of his lungs. He beat 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:37.280 on those doors hour after hour until his fists were bloodied. 0:19:37.920 --> 0:19:42.000 He finally had his voice give out. Nick was very 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:46.560 aware that he was in a refrigerated box car. He 0:19:46.600 --> 0:19:49.200 guessed that the temperature was well below freezing. 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:51.240 He began to fear the worst. 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:54.080 He thought, if I don't get out of here, I 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:57.160 could freeze to death. There's no way I can make 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:00.360 it all night. The more he thought about it, the 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:05.080 colder he got, shivering almost uncontrollably. He found a piece 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:08.600 of cardboard in that box car. He wrote a note. 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:13.359 It said, so cold, body getting numb. These may be 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:17.040 my last words. The next morning, when the crew came 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.560 in opened the big steel doors, they saw Nick's body 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:22.479 curled up over in the corner. 0:20:23.119 --> 0:20:25.000 The autopsy revealed. 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:29.160 Indeed he had frozen to death. Here's the amazing part 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:33.520 of the story. The refrigeration unit in the car Nick 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:37.480 was in that night was never even on. The temperature 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:40.280 in that car where he froze to death was sixty 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:45.200 one degrees. Nick froze to death because he was convinced 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:49.000 in his thinking he was in a freezing car. The 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:52.680 thing he feared came upon him. Let me ask you, 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:55.920 are you fearing freezing to death? 0:20:56.160 --> 0:20:56.879 So to speak? 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:01.399 Even though it's sixty one degrees, like that young lady, 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:05.040 afraid you won't get pregnant, even though there's really nothing 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:10.200 wrong with you. Fear blows things out of proportion. Fear 0:21:10.280 --> 0:21:14.480 makes problems much bigger than they really are. Maybe God 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:19.720 sent you today for a perspective change. Maybe what you're 0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:24.639 fearing is never even going to happen. Maybe that obstacle 0:21:24.680 --> 0:21:29.720 that looks permanent is really only temporary. Perhaps, like Nick, 0:21:29.960 --> 0:21:33.600 you feel trapped. Everything tells you you'll never get out, 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:37.040 you'll never get ahead, you'll never get well, you'll never 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:41.440 get married. No, God is saying, don't worry. The refrigeration 0:21:41.640 --> 0:21:44.479 unit is not on. I've got you in the palm 0:21:44.520 --> 0:21:48.040 of my hand. No weapon formed against you is ever 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:52.159 going to prosper. It may feel dark and lonely, like 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:54.919 it's not going to work out, But God is saying, 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:57.280 if you will stay in faith. 0:21:57.320 --> 0:21:58.480 I will deliver you. 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:01.840 I will protect you, I will heal you, I will 0:22:01.920 --> 0:22:03.880 vindicate you, I will restore you. 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:05.360 I will not only. 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:07.600 Bring you out, I'll bring you out better off than 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:08.359 you were before. 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:10.399 Now you got to do your part. 0:22:10.880 --> 0:22:15.840 Don't panic, don't fear the worst, don't imagine every negative 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:18.959 thing that could happen. No say like David Psal, I'm 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:22.520 twenty seven. The Lord is my light and my salvation. 0:22:22.880 --> 0:22:26.560 Whom shall I fear? The Lord protects me from danger? 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:30.520 Why should I be afraid? Though an army surrounds me, 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:35.280 though they attack me from every side. I may feel trapped. 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:39.200 I don't see a way out. Medical report doesn't look good. 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:41.560 My bank statement tells me I'm not gonna make it. 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:44.520 But that's okay. I know a secret. God is still 0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:48.719 on the throne. Nothing I'm facing is a surprise to him. 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:52.320 The enemy doesn't have the final say. God has the 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:56.000 final say, and he says, I will always cause you 0:22:56.040 --> 0:23:00.720 to triumph. Now be strong and of good courage. The Lord, 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:05.440 your God, is with you. Friends, throughout life, fear will 0:23:05.480 --> 0:23:09.240 come knocking at the door, tell you the worst case scenario, 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:12.160 like that young marine. You're not gonna make it out. 0:23:12.760 --> 0:23:15.840 You're not gonna stay healthy, Your business is gonna go down. 0:23:16.080 --> 0:23:16.920 Now here's the key. 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:22.200 When fear knocks, let faith answer the door. Don't give 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:24.959 those thoughts of fear the time of day. Don't let 0:23:25.040 --> 0:23:29.320 them intimidate you. Answer back with faith. Lord, you said 0:23:29.520 --> 0:23:33.320 the number of my days you would fulfill. God you said, 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:36.359 your plans for me are for good and not evil. God, 0:23:36.440 --> 0:23:39.200 you said, what's meant for my harm? You'd turn around 0:23:39.240 --> 0:23:43.119 and use to my advantage. When fear knocks, let faith 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:46.800 answer the door. I was flying out of Canada one time, 0:23:47.040 --> 0:23:50.560 early in the morning. Her flight was delayed for several 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:54.520 hours because of the fog. Everywhere we looked there was 0:23:54.560 --> 0:23:58.639 this thick, dense fog. You could barely see anything. We 0:23:58.760 --> 0:24:01.840 thought the whole city was fogged in, But when we 0:24:01.880 --> 0:24:05.000 took off, we looked down and noticed it was just 0:24:05.119 --> 0:24:09.760 a pocket of fog about a one mile area surrounding 0:24:09.800 --> 0:24:10.400 the airport. 0:24:11.400 --> 0:24:13.000 This is the way fear is. 0:24:13.600 --> 0:24:18.080 Fear presents itself much bigger than it really is. It 0:24:18.119 --> 0:24:21.520 will tell you all the worst case scenarios to try 0:24:21.560 --> 0:24:26.439 to get your worried, anxious, uptight, panicked. No, just smile 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:30.359 and say, Fear, I know your tricks. You're all bark 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:34.399 and no bite. You may look big, but I'm not impressed. 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:38.560 I know the truth. There's nothing really to you. That's 0:24:38.600 --> 0:24:42.120 how you activate faith and not fear. When you do this, 0:24:42.480 --> 0:24:45.920 the greatest force in the universe goes to work. Those 0:24:46.000 --> 0:24:48.560 problems may be big, but our God. 0:24:48.320 --> 0:24:51.600 Is much bigger. Your obstacles may be high, but we 0:24:51.680 --> 0:24:55.879 serve the Most High God. When thoughts of fear, worried, doubt, 0:24:56.000 --> 0:24:57.840 negativity come, you got to. 0:24:57.920 --> 0:25:01.920 Rise up, say like David, I will not fear. I 0:25:02.000 --> 0:25:04.399 will not worry, I will not be uptight. 0:25:04.640 --> 0:25:05.240 I will not. 0:25:05.280 --> 0:25:08.359 Dwell on the negative. Look that fear in the eyes. 0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:11.919 So to speak and say, you don't intimidate me. I 0:25:12.000 --> 0:25:14.480 know who I am, and I know whose I am. 0:25:15.880 --> 0:25:19.399 Remember, fear is like a fog. 0:25:19.960 --> 0:25:23.560 It'll always look much bigger than it really is. You 0:25:23.680 --> 0:25:26.280 have a pain in your side, fear will tell you 0:25:26.440 --> 0:25:30.359 that's permanent, that's terminal. You guys, well start planning your funeral. No, 0:25:30.560 --> 0:25:32.720 the truth is you just ate too much pizza the 0:25:32.800 --> 0:25:38.080 night before. It's no big deal. But fear will exaggerate it. 0:25:38.640 --> 0:25:41.720 Tell you what if your company starts laying people off? 0:25:41.760 --> 0:25:45.720 You better worry? What if that pain is serious? 0:25:46.280 --> 0:25:49.679 No, you need to look at fear and say get lost, 0:25:50.160 --> 0:25:50.879 hit the road. 0:25:51.200 --> 0:25:53.480 I don't have time for you, friends. 0:25:53.520 --> 0:25:58.000 Your destiny is too great, your assignment too important, your 0:25:58.119 --> 0:26:02.719 time too valuable. Don't let fear intimidate you. You are 0:26:02.760 --> 0:26:04.879 a child of the Most High God. 0:26:05.320 --> 0:26:09.200 Dare to say like David, I will not fear. Think 0:26:09.240 --> 0:26:09.560 of this. 0:26:10.400 --> 0:26:13.280 If the things we fear can come upon us, as 0:26:13.280 --> 0:26:16.760 the scripture says, how much more can the things we 0:26:16.880 --> 0:26:20.399 have faith for come upon us. God's power is so 0:26:20.560 --> 0:26:24.560 much greater than the enemy's power. When fear knocks, let 0:26:24.600 --> 0:26:28.040 faith answer the door. Don't come into agreement with fear. 0:26:28.359 --> 0:26:31.679 Stay disciplined in your thought life. This is the reason 0:26:31.800 --> 0:26:36.040 many people are down, discouraged negative. They're not guarding their mind. 0:26:36.400 --> 0:26:39.440 That's where the real battle is taking place. If you'll 0:26:39.520 --> 0:26:43.680 learn to activate faith and not fear, then I believe 0:26:43.840 --> 0:26:46.639 and declare, just like that young couple that had a baby, 0:26:46.960 --> 0:26:47.840 God is going. 0:26:47.680 --> 0:26:50.400 To bring your dreams to pass. He's going to pour 0:26:50.480 --> 0:26:51.960 out floods of his favor. 0:26:52.240 --> 0:26:56.439 You will overcome every obstacle, defeat every enemy, and become 0:26:56.560 --> 0:27:00.720 everything God's created you to be. In Jesus Now, if 0:27:00.760 --> 0:27:04.960 you receive it, can you say him in today. We 0:27:05.080 --> 0:27:07.800 never like to close our broadcast without giving you an 0:27:07.840 --> 0:27:10.640 opportunity to make Jesus the lord of your life. 0:27:10.800 --> 0:27:15.160 Would you pray with me? Just say Lord Jesus, I'll 0:27:15.160 --> 0:27:18.359 repent of my sins. Come into my heart. 0:27:19.400 --> 0:27:22.840 I make you my lord and savior. Friends, If you 0:27:22.920 --> 0:27:25.520 prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. 0:27:25.960 --> 0:27:29.119 Get in a good Bible based church. Keep God first place. 0:27:29.400 --> 0:27:31.800 He's going to take your places that you've never dreamed of. 0:27:33.680 --> 0:27:36.199 Sometimes life can make you feel like you were just 0:27:36.320 --> 0:27:38.960 living in the dark. Even your prayers don't feel like 0:27:39.000 --> 0:27:41.800 they are making it to heaven. But God is listening 0:27:42.080 --> 0:27:45.479 and his light is about to shine. 0:27:45.720 --> 0:27:48.399 We know God is all powerful that he can answer 0:27:48.440 --> 0:27:51.600 any prayer, but sometimes we don't know what to pray. 0:27:52.160 --> 0:27:54.240 We don't think we deserve God's goodness. 0:27:54.480 --> 0:27:57.840 Maybe we're inconveniencing him, or he has more important things 0:27:57.880 --> 0:28:01.800 to deal with. But God is earned about every detail 0:28:01.880 --> 0:28:05.320 of your life. He's waiting to hear your prayers. I 0:28:05.400 --> 0:28:09.480 have a new resource called Praying with Confidence, guided prayers 0:28:09.520 --> 0:28:13.280 for life's moments. When you face challenges or obstacles that 0:28:13.320 --> 0:28:16.719 seem too big, you'll find prayers that will build your faith, 0:28:17.080 --> 0:28:19.800 prayers that will move the hands of God. There are 0:28:19.840 --> 0:28:22.919 prayers you can pray for peace and comfort, prayers for 0:28:23.000 --> 0:28:26.280 your family and hell, prayers for your dreams and goals. 0:28:26.600 --> 0:28:29.719 As you make these prayers your own, pray with confidence, 0:28:30.000 --> 0:28:31.760 that's when you'll see the creator of. 0:28:31.720 --> 0:28:34.800 The universe, go to work. I hope you'll bequest your 0:28:34.840 --> 0:28:35.920 copy today. 0:28:36.480 --> 0:28:39.080 With a gift of any amount. This month, we would 0:28:39.120 --> 0:28:41.840 like to immediately send you a copy of Praying with 0:28:42.000 --> 0:28:46.640 Confidence Guided Prayers for Life's Moments. In this new resource, 0:28:46.960 --> 0:28:50.120 Joel shares how to pray when you need a breakthrough, 0:28:50.600 --> 0:28:54.680 when you need strength. Yes, when life's moments happen and 0:28:54.760 --> 0:28:58.240 you're not sure how to pray. Praying confident prayers will 0:28:58.280 --> 0:29:01.760 put you on the right path. You'll enter new seasons 0:29:01.800 --> 0:29:05.080 in your prayer life that will turn challenges to victory's 0:29:05.480 --> 0:29:10.440 heartache to hope, frustration to new found favor. Be sure 0:29:10.480 --> 0:29:14.040 to request your copy of Praying with Confidence Guided Prayers 0:29:14.040 --> 0:29:18.240 for Life's Moments today. Visit Joeloustein dot com or call 0:29:18.520 --> 0:29:20.280 eighty eight five six seven. 0:29:20.560 --> 0:29:20.880 Joel