God Will Finish What He Started

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That's code iheard fifty 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:57.160 When you sign up at unest dot co for fifty 0:00:57.200 --> 0:00:59.880 dollars bonus see terms and conditions at UNS dot c. 0:01:00.840 --> 0:01:03.560 No one likes to talk about money. Am I saving enough? 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:05.720 Can I buy a house? Am I paying too much 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:08.440 in taxes? Will I be able to retire? What if 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.039 you could unlock insights about your finances in less than 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:13.520 five minutes, with a clear picture of where you stand 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:16.360 today and where your money can work harder? Now you 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.440 can visit facet dot com to take the free quiz 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:24.080 and get your financial wellness score today. That's Facet dot com. 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:26.040 This add a sponsored by Facet. Facet Wealth in Corporated 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:27.959 is an sec registered investment advisor. This is not an 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:29.759 offer to buy your self securities, nor is it investment, 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:30.760 legal or tax advice. 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:32.800 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.080 Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:36.759 the ministry. 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:39.240 If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:40.800 blessing and share it with a friend. 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.840 We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:59.640 your life. Well, God bless you. It's a joy to 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:02.880 come in to your homes. We're here at the Miami 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.360 Marlins Baseball Stadium with some of the finest people in. 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.800 All of Florida. Right here at the ball. 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:14.960 Stadium, fantastic people, victories and not victum. Hold up your Bible, 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:19.320 say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:20.799 I am what it says. 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:21.680 I am. 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.480 I have what it says I have. I can do 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.320 what it says I can do. Tonight I will be 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:31.400 talked the word of God. I boldly confess. My mind 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:35.080 is alert, my heart is receptive. I will never be 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:38.959 the same. Never, never, never, I'll never be the same. 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:44.560 In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want to talk 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:48.799 to you tonight about how God will finish what he started. 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.240 The moment God put a dream in your heart, the 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.880 moment the promise took root, God not only started it, 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:01.320 but he set a completion date. God is called the 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:05.720 author and the finisher of our faith. God wouldn't have 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:09.040 given you the dream, The promise wouldn't have come alive 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:11.079 if God didn't already have. 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:12.800 A plan to bring it to pass. 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:17.120 Doesn't matter how long it's been or how impossible it looks. 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.760 Your mind may tell you it's too late, You've missed 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:24.200 too many opportunities. It's never going to happen. No, God 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:27.640 is saying it's not over. I have the final say 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:31.399 I've already set the completion day, and if you will 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:35.240 stay in faith and not talk yourself out of it, 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:37.920 it's just a matter of time before it comes to pass. 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.120 But some of you tonight you've lost your fire. At 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:45.800 one time, you believed you could do something great. You 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:48.920 had a big dream. Maybe you believed you could start 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:53.080 that business. Believe that you'd get healthy again, believe that. 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:55.840 You'd fall in love and get married. But it's been 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:56.520 so long. 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:00.000 You tried and it didn't work out. The loan didn't 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:04.560 go through, the medical report wasn't good. Now the never 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.560 lies are playing in your mind. I'll never get well, 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:12.200 I'll never get married, I'll never accomplish my dreams. Now 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.680 you have to have a new perspective. The creator of 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:20.239 the universe has already set that completion date. Just because 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:23.360 it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it's not going to happen. 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:27.760 God has already lined up the right people, the right breaks, 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:29.200 the right answers. 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.239 Everything you need is already in your future. 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:35.920 Now you've got to shake off the doubt, shake off 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:40.200 the discouragement. Whether it's been a year, five years, or 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:44.599 fifty years, what God promised you, he still has every 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:49.039 intention of bringing it to pass. In the scripture, there's 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:52.560 a man by the name of Simeon. An angel appeared 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:56.760 under him and told him, you will not die until 0:04:56.800 --> 0:05:00.240 you see the birth of Christ. You can imagine how 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:03.640 far out that promise scene, especially back then he would 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:07.480 see the birth of the Messiah. Simeon didn't tell anyone 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:11.120 about it, kept it to himself. Do you know some 0:05:11.200 --> 0:05:15.040 promises you're not supposed to tell your friends and all 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:18.440 your family members. They may not be happy for you. 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.039 They may tell you how it's not going to happen, 0:05:21.040 --> 0:05:22.920 and you're too old, and you really think you could 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:27.800 do that, Keep it to yourself. That's between you and God. 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:31.640 The scripture calls it a secret petition of our heart. 0:05:32.720 --> 0:05:35.520 You're went by and Simeon didn't see any sign of 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:40.360 the Messiah. Five years, ten years. I'm sure the thoughts 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:44.000 came saying, you heard God wrong. It's been too long, 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:48.279 it's never going to happen. The enemy has no new tricks. 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:52.560 He uses the same type of lies on us today. Doubt, discouragement. 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.520 You really think you're going to get well, You saw 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:58.720 the medical report. You really think you could accomplish those 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:03.560 dreams have the funds, the connections. Now let those thoughts 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:06.480 go in one ear and out the other. I can 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.520 see Simeon all through the day. God, I know you're 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.880 a God of completion. You said I wouldn't go to 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.440 my grave without seeing this promise come to pass. 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:17.680 So Lord, I want to thank you that it's on 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:18.640 the way. 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:21.839 He got up every morning, believe in, expecting, knowing that 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:25.760 it would happen. Sure enough, twenty years later he saw 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:30.520 Christ born. The promise came to fulfillment. God is saying 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:32.160 to you tonight what he. 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.000 Said to Simeon. You can't die yet. 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.200 There are too many promises that have not come to 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:42.520 pass in your life. What God started he will finish. 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:46.640 People can't stop it. Bad breaks can't stop it, sickness 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:47.440 can't stop it. 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:51.120 Death can't even stop it. You need to get ready. 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:55.760 God is going to complete your incompletions. You will not 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:59.200 go to your grave without seeing those dreams come to pass, 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.120 even the secret petitions of your heart. And it may 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:08.359 seem impossible, but remember our God is all powerful. He 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:12.480 spoke the worlds into existence, and he has you in 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:16.440 the palm of his hand. God never created you to 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:21.600 do something averaged to drag through life, unfulfilled, unrewarded. 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.800 No, he created you to do something amazing. 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:30.320 He's put seeds of greatness on the inside. He's whispered 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:32.720 things to you in the middle of the night that 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:37.280 seemed too big, far out, impossible. But God is saying, 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:40.960 that was my voice. That's my dream for your life. 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:45.080 It's bigger, it's more rewarding. You may not see how 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:48.040 it can happen, may look like it's been too long, 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.720 But if you'll stay in faith, God can still bring 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:51.400 that to pass. 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:53.440 He will finish what he started. 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:57.080 I met a one hundred and six year old man 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.080 in our lobby after the service a while back. He 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:04.520 was so happy, so full of joy. He looked like 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:07.840 he was seventy years old. He didn't have one winkle. 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:12.080 He was African American, and I commented on how great 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:14.920 he looked. No, I'll never forget what he said. He 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:22.160 touched his face and said, Joel Black, don't crack. He 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:26.200 was so funny. But I asked him how long he 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:30.560 planned on living. He told how he has seven children. 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.640 One of his sons has gotten off course and he's 0:08:34.720 --> 0:08:38.840 not serving God. He said, I can't die yet because 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:42.600 God promised as for me and my house, we will 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:48.280 serve the Lord. I love that attitude. I can't die 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.760 until I see God bring every promise to pass. Friends, 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:54.679 you've got to stir up what God has put on 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:58.960 the inside. Life will try to push you down, steal 0:08:59.000 --> 0:09:02.040 your dreams, hawky into settling for mediocrity. 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.840 But I want you to have this new attitude. 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.920 What God started in your life, he is going to 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:12.720 finish it. But here's the real question. Will you keep 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:17.720 believing even though it looks impossible. Will you stay in 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:21.000 faith even though every voice tells you that it's not 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:21.760 going to happen. 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:24.120 This is what David did. 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:28.360 He was anointed to be king at seventeen years of age, 0:09:28.960 --> 0:09:31.440 but he didn't take the throne until he was thirty. 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.280 For thirteen years, he had a lot come against him. 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.480 King Saul was jealous of him, tried to kill him, 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:41.560 even though David had done no wrong. 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:44.280 He had to live on the run, hiding in the. 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:49.000 Caves year after year. I'm sure he thought, God, did 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.600 I hear you wrong? Is it ever going to happen? 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:56.800 At one point, a man named Mabel insulted David. He 0:09:56.840 --> 0:09:59.760 wouldn't give David's men any food even though they had 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:01.400 been protecting his property. 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.560 This set David off. He was furious. I don't think 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:07.160 so much. 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.360 It was the fact that Nabel was rude, but it 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.719 was the fact that David had thirteen years of pent 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.960 up frustration on the inside. He'd heard the voice again 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.720 and again. Look at you, man, You're supposed to be 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:23.319 a king. You're out here living like a cave man. 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:28.079 David and his men set out toward Nabel's property. They 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.920 were going to wipe him out, but along the way, 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.839 a young lady showed up by the name of Abigail. 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.720 This was Nabel's wife. She said, David, you're the next 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:42.319 king of Israel. You are destined to take the throne. 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.240 Why are you going to go mess with my husband? 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:50.000 That's like swatting a little fly. She reminded David what 0:10:50.120 --> 0:10:50.600 God has. 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.800 Spoken over him. David says, you know what, You're right. 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.240 I know there's a promise in me, and I'm not 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.160 going to let the fact that it's taken a long 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:02.880 time caused me to get frustrated and make a poor 0:11:02.960 --> 0:11:07.400 decision that could hinder my destiny. He turned around, went 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:11.040 back home. God has put a promise in every one 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:14.880 of you. But maybe like David right now, you're in 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:19.240 the wilderness where you don't see anything happening. You think, Joel, 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:23.080 I've been praying, believing for a year, five years, ten years. 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:25.880 It's never going to work out. Now, let me be 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:31.080 the voice of Abigail. Stay the course, keep believing. You 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:35.800 may be tired, discouraged, tempted to be frustrated, but don't 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:39.000 give up on your future. Stay on the high road. 0:11:39.559 --> 0:11:42.920 Our God is a faithful god. It may be taking 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:46.160 a long time, but what he started he will finish 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:52.400 in your life. A good friend of mine is Jeff Hackelman. 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:54.040 Here on the front row, and he and. 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:57.880 His wife Aileen pastor Family Faith Church in Huntsville, Texas. 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:01.280 When we were in high school, Jeff drove down to 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:03.640 the Gulf of Mexico to go fishing one day, and 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.320 he had done this many times before. This day, he 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.440 and his friend decided they were going to try somewhere different. 0:12:11.120 --> 0:12:13.960 As Jeff was launching the boat, he asked the man 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.720 at the dock how to get back to that place 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.880 from the gas wells. The man said, we're directly north. 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:24.760 If you're anywhere around those gas wells, just go do north. 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.880 And you'll make it back to this dock. Jeff and 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.120 his friend traveled an hour in their little boat and 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:34.160 got to their destination. They were having so much fun, 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:38.600 catching so many fish. What they didn't realize is a 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:43.160 heavy fog had set in. It happened so quickly that 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:46.320 it caught them off guard. They could only see twenty 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:49.960 thirty feet in each direction, so getting kind of late. 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:52.000 The sun started to go down, and Jeff was a 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:55.000 little concerned. Told his friend pull up the anchor. We 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.360 got to get going. Jeff looked around to try to 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:01.839 get some sense of direction. He could only see fog. 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.560 All of his logic said we need to go this way. 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:07.360 He asked his friend. 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:11.000 His father's a big fisherman as well. He said, no, Jeff, 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:15.240 it's not that direction. It's this direction, totally opposite what 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:16.040 Jeff fought. 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:19.840 Now he was really confused. He got his compass out 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:20.880 due north. 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.760 Like the men at the doc said, wasn't this way 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:25.960 or this way, but it was this. 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.400 Way, different than what both of them thought. 0:13:29.360 --> 0:13:33.040 Against all sense of reasoning, Jeff cranked up the motor 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:37.880 and started traveling due north. Everything in his mind told him, 0:13:38.040 --> 0:13:40.880 you're making a big mistake. You're going the wrong way. 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:44.160 You better turn around. He kept going back to what 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.240 the man at the dock said. God north and you'll 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.920 make it back. He traveled crept along, couldn't go fast. 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.000 Fifteen minutes, thirty minutes, forty five, an hour. 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:55.839 Now it was dark. 0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:59.480 A voice started telling him, if you were going right, 0:14:00.120 --> 0:14:01.240 you would already. 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:01.680 Be there by now. 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.280 How many times, as we're believing for what God promised us, 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.400 do we hear these same type of voices. If you 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:12.000 were going to get well, you'd feel better by now. 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:14.400 If you were going to get married, you would have 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:19.120 met somebody by now. There will always be voices trying 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.320 to convince us it's too late, you're going the wrong way. 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:23.680 It's never going to happen. 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:27.640 Jeff's friends started panicking, started yelling at Jeff. 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:29.000 Turned the boat around. 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:31.480 You're taking us out to see we're going to run 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:32.120 out of gas. 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:33.120 We could get killed. 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:38.240 In spite of all these confusing voices, Jeff kept traveling 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:41.720 due north. Another thirty minutes, another forty five, another hour. 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:45.360 Just before they ran out of gas, they begin to 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:48.160 see the dock faintly come into view. They made it 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:52.720 back safely. Sometimes in life, the fog will set in. 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.080 You don't know which way is the right direction. You know, 0:14:57.240 --> 0:15:00.840 God's put a promise in your heart. Voice tells you 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:04.000 it's not gonna happen. You're too old, you miss too 0:15:04.000 --> 0:15:06.200 many opportunities, you don't have the connections. 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:08.360 In the foggy. 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:11.560 Times where you don't see anything happening, that's when you 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:14.680 have to dig your heels in and say, God, I'm 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:18.080 going to believe what you promised me, in spite of 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.120 how I feel, in spite of what people are telling me, 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:24.280 in spite of how it looks. God, I'm gonna keep 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:27.560 acting like what you said is true. I'm gonna keep 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:31.280 believing you're on the throne. I know you're a faithful God. 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:35.800 What you promised you will bring to pass. So a 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:38.080 young lady in the scripture by the name of Rachel. 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.960 She wanted to have a baby so badly. God put 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:44.640 this dream in her heart, but year after year went 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:48.960 by and she couldn't conceive. The same time, her sister 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:53.400 Leah had a baby. Rachel was happy for her, congratulated her, 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:57.560 but all the while she kept praying. Rachel did believing 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.640 for her own baby, but no success. Well, Leah had 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:06.040 another child, another baby, and another and another. And of 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:09.080 course it's good to be happy for others, it's good 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.760 to rejoice with them. But God doesn't want you to 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.960 just celebrate everybody else. God wants to bring your dreams 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:19.720 to pass. God wants to give you the desires of 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:24.120 your heart. He wants you to be celebrated. And Rachel 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.840 did her best to keep praying and believing. But after 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:32.840 years of frustration seeing her sister have babies and her 0:16:32.880 --> 0:16:36.080 not have a child, she got discouraged and thought, hey, 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:37.680 this is my lot in life. 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:39.120 It's never going to happen. 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:43.360 One thing I love about God is just because we 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.080 give up on a dream doesn't mean that God gives 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:51.200 up on the dream. The scripture says God remembered Rachel. 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:55.560 It doesn't say that Rachel remembered God. This is how 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:59.240 much God wants you to fulfill your destiny. It says 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:04.320 God remembered Rachel, answered her prayer and gave her a baby. 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.639 Friends, God is so loving, He's so merciful. 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:12.960 Even when we become too discouraged to believe, God does 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.679 not forget what he promised you. You may feel, like Rachel, 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:21.040 your life hasn't turned out the way you had hoped, 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:24.360 you prayed, you believed, you worked hard, you put forth 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:27.640 the effort, but it didn't work out. Now you're kind 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:30.520 of thinking, Hey, never going to be happy again, never 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:35.119 be married, never accomplished my dreams. No, God not only 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:39.080 remembers you, He remembers the promise he put in you. 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:42.040 He knows what he's destined you to do. 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:45.040 You may have already said forget it, it's never going 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:48.000 to happen. The good news is you don't have the 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:51.760 final say. God has the final say, and he says, 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:56.080 what I started in your life, I'm going to finish 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.119 that dream you gave up on. God didn't give up on. 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.240 When my brother Paul was twelve years old, he went 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:07.000 to Africa with my father and standing on a hot 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:11.439 tarmac waiting for a small plane to refuel in a 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:16.000 tiny nation called Northern Rhodesia. God planted a dream in 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:18.919 Paul's heart that one day he would go back to 0:18:19.040 --> 0:18:23.480 Africa and do medical missions. The creator of the universe 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:27.119 birthed that in him that day. Paul went on to 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:30.240 become a doctor, and he spent seventeen years as the 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:33.000 chief of surgery in Little Rock, Arkansas. 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:35.400 Deep down, he still wanted to do. 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:39.760 Medical missions, but he was so busy, had so much responsibility, 0:18:40.160 --> 0:18:44.280 he couldn't do it. In nineteen ninety nine, driving home 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:48.399 from my father's memorial service, he heard God speak to 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:51.639 him right down and here, telling him to give up 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:55.280 his medical practice, come back home and help us pastor 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:55.800 the church. 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:58.760 In the natural. It didn't make sense. 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:02.440 He had all these years of training, all these years 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.080 of education, he was going to walk away from it. 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:09.600 And for ten years Paul helped us here at the ministry. 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.920 Never thought any more about medicine, thought those days were over. 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.399 But God doesn't forget what he promised you as a child. 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:22.679 God remembers the dreams, the goals, the things. 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.000 That you always wanted to do. 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:27.560 One day, a group of doctors from our church were 0:19:27.560 --> 0:19:30.639 going to Africa. They asked Paul to go, and he 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:33.800 went over there, just thinking he'd watch from the sidelines, 0:19:34.119 --> 0:19:37.000 maybe see how we could support them better. But when 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:40.359 he got there, they put him in the operating room 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.920 and said, Paul, we need you to do these surgeries. 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:48.200 Hadn't done surgery and over ten years. I just thank 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:51.879 god I wasn't the first patient that day. But on 0:19:51.960 --> 0:19:55.680 the last day before he left come back home. 0:19:55.720 --> 0:19:56.800 On that two week trip. 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.399 He got up in the middle of the night, he 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.600 went out and looked up in the African sky, and 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:03.760 all of a sudden. 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:04.480 It hit him. 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:08.080 He was doing what God put in his heart as 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:12.520 a twelve year old boy. What God starts, he will finish. 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:16.720 You may not see how it can happen. It may 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:20.920 look like you're too old, you miss too many opportunities. 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:25.720 It's impossible. No, God has it all figured out. God 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:27.680 knows how to connect the docks. 0:20:28.359 --> 0:20:29.120 And here's the key. 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:33.760 God is not okay with you fulfilling half of your destiny. 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:36.960 He's not okay with you fulfilling a part of it. 0:20:37.760 --> 0:20:40.879 God is going to make sure you complete what he 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:45.080 puts you here to do. Today, Paul spends five months 0:20:45.080 --> 0:20:49.080 a year over in the remote villages of Africa, operating 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:52.960 on the poor and needy. In fact, right now, he's 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:57.199 in Central Africa, in a tiny nation that used to 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:02.680 be called Northern Rhodesia, the exact place God planted the 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:06.440 dream in his heart some forty five years ago. God 0:21:06.560 --> 0:21:11.320 knows how to bring your dreams to pass. How you say, Joel, 0:21:11.359 --> 0:21:15.119 this all sounds good, very encouraging, But you don't know 0:21:15.200 --> 0:21:19.120 my situation. I think it's too late for me. That's 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:23.200 what two sisters in the scripture thought. Mary and Martha. 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:28.240 Their brother Lazarus was extremely sick. They sent word for 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:30.919 their good friend Jesus to come to their city and 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:32.320 pray for him. 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:34.880 A day went by and Jesus didn't show up. 0:21:35.640 --> 0:21:39.160 They asked the people they sent, did you tell Jesus 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:42.240 this was us? Yes, we told them. Did you explain 0:21:42.320 --> 0:21:46.000 how sick Lazarus was? We explained it to him. They 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:52.439 couldn't understand why Jesus wouldn't come immediately. Lazarus ended up dying. 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:58.479 Four days later. Jesus showed up. Mary said, Jesus, if 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:01.679 you'd have been here sooner, my brother would still be alive. 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:06.040 Have you ever felt like God showed up too late 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:09.200 and it had just got there a little sooner, maybe things 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:12.840 would have worked out. That's the way they felt. You 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:15.879 know how the story ends. Jesus spoke to Lazarus and 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:16.520 he came. 0:22:16.359 --> 0:22:17.320 Back to life. 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:20.119 But what I want you to see is they wanted 0:22:20.200 --> 0:22:24.840 Jesus to come and heal their brother. But Jesus wasn't 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:28.080 thinking about a healing. He was thinking about a resurrection. 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:32.240 A healing would have been good, but Jesus had something 0:22:32.280 --> 0:22:37.840 better in mind. When the promise doesn't turn out the 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:41.840 way you thought, when it doesn't happen on your timetable, 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:45.320 it's easy to get discouraged and to feel like God 0:22:45.400 --> 0:22:49.359 lets you down. But the truth is that means God 0:22:49.400 --> 0:22:53.399 has something better in store. You prayed, you worked hard, 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:56.960 you believed, but you didn't get the promotion the door closed. 0:22:57.080 --> 0:23:00.920 Don't get discouraged. That would have been a healing. God 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:05.560 has a resurrection. Dare to trust him. He's promised what 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:09.440 he started in your life, he will finish. If you'll 0:23:09.480 --> 0:23:12.199 let God do it his way, It'll always turn out 0:23:12.280 --> 0:23:15.840 better than you ever imagined. I read a story about 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:19.119 a young man that was training for the nineteen twenty 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:23.400 four Olympic Games. They were to be held in Paris, France. 0:23:24.200 --> 0:23:28.880 He was an American highly skilled in whitewater canoeing. He'd 0:23:28.880 --> 0:23:32.080 won many competitions down through the years. He was the 0:23:32.119 --> 0:23:35.800 heavy favorite for the gold medal. That was always his dream, 0:23:36.200 --> 0:23:40.480 an Olympic gold. It just so happened that his wife 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:43.760 became pregnant and her due date was at the exact 0:23:43.800 --> 0:23:46.880 time of the Olympics and of course, back in those 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:50.040 days didn't have travel like we do today, and to 0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:52.560 go across the ocean and back would take several months. 0:23:52.640 --> 0:23:56.600 Time. He made the decision that he wasn't going to. 0:23:56.600 --> 0:24:01.280 Miss the birth of his first son, his coach, that 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:04.840 he would no longer be participating, not competing in the 0:24:04.840 --> 0:24:08.760 Olympic Games. His son was born, and over the years 0:24:08.760 --> 0:24:12.439 he poured into that young man. Like his father, the 0:24:12.560 --> 0:24:17.359 son was extremely gifted in whitewater rafting. They spent year 0:24:17.440 --> 0:24:22.840 after year practicing, training, getting better and better. Nineteen forty eight, 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:27.000 the son qualified for the Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. 0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:29.000 He went over and competed. 0:24:29.480 --> 0:24:34.040 A couple of weeks later, the father received a telegraph said, 0:24:34.040 --> 0:24:37.800 dear dad, thanks for waiting around for me to be born. 0:24:38.440 --> 0:24:42.120 I'm coming home twenty four years later with your Olympic 0:24:42.160 --> 0:24:46.600 gold medal. The son won the gold, came home and 0:24:46.640 --> 0:24:51.199 presented it to his father. Now the father had the 0:24:51.240 --> 0:24:54.359 gold medal that he always dreamed about, but it even 0:24:54.480 --> 0:24:57.440 meant more to him because it came from his son, 0:24:57.960 --> 0:25:01.639 whom he loved so much. That's the way our God is. 0:25:02.280 --> 0:25:04.440 When we think it's too late, it could never happen. 0:25:04.440 --> 0:25:08.240 I've missed too many opportunities. Listen, God still has a 0:25:08.280 --> 0:25:11.600 way to bring your dreams to pass. There's a man 0:25:11.640 --> 0:25:16.240 in the scripture by the name of Zerubabel. He had 0:25:16.240 --> 0:25:19.680 a dream to rebuild the temple. The whole city had 0:25:19.720 --> 0:25:24.160 been destroyed. He came back and laid the foundation, but 0:25:24.200 --> 0:25:24.960 the people in. 0:25:24.920 --> 0:25:28.240 The city weren't for him. They didn't want the temple rebuilt. 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:31.879 They went to the judge and he issued an order 0:25:32.600 --> 0:25:33.680 telling him to stop. 0:25:34.280 --> 0:25:37.200 For ten years, no work was done. 0:25:37.320 --> 0:25:40.800 I can imagine Zeruba Bell week after week going by 0:25:40.880 --> 0:25:45.159 the property in seeing the empty foundation, all the supplies 0:25:45.240 --> 0:25:45.880 stacked up. 0:25:46.440 --> 0:25:50.600 It's like rubbing salt on the wound. Sure, he thought, God, 0:25:50.920 --> 0:25:54.119 I started off good, had big dreams. 0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:59.960 These people came against me, had so much opposition. He's down, discouraged, 0:26:00.080 --> 0:26:03.520 thinking that it could never happen. But remember, God never 0:26:03.640 --> 0:26:08.040 starts something that he can't finish. One day a prophet 0:26:08.080 --> 0:26:11.360 by the name of Zachariah showed up, said, Zaruba bel 0:26:11.680 --> 0:26:14.600 God sent me all this way to give you two 0:26:14.680 --> 0:26:20.720 words begin again. Faith shot up in his heart. He said, 0:26:20.760 --> 0:26:23.480 you mean God can still bring it to pass. Do 0:26:23.560 --> 0:26:25.920 you realize it's been ten years? Do you know how 0:26:25.920 --> 0:26:28.879 many people are against me. Do you really think that 0:26:28.960 --> 0:26:32.680 I can still do it? Zachariah said, I don't think 0:26:32.720 --> 0:26:34.959 you can do it. I know you can do it, 0:26:35.280 --> 0:26:39.440 and God says, get started. God is saying the same 0:26:39.520 --> 0:26:43.520 thing to each one of us. Begin again, get your 0:26:43.600 --> 0:26:48.120 dreams back, get your hopes up. God has put some 0:26:48.280 --> 0:26:49.800 kind of promise in your heart. 0:26:50.880 --> 0:26:52.560 Like him. Maybe it's been years. 0:26:53.160 --> 0:26:56.080 You tried, it didn't work out, you had some setbacks. 0:26:56.760 --> 0:27:00.840 God is saying it's time to start dreaming again, start 0:27:00.880 --> 0:27:06.240 believing again, start praying again, start expecting again. Some of 0:27:06.280 --> 0:27:09.160 you wanted to buy that new house. You didn't qualify 0:27:09.200 --> 0:27:12.680 for it. It didn't work out. That was ten years ago. 0:27:13.000 --> 0:27:17.399 God says, begin again. Some of you, at one time 0:27:17.640 --> 0:27:20.679 you knew you could break that addiction, but it didn't happen. 0:27:21.400 --> 0:27:26.520 Now you've gotten comfortable, God is saying, begin again. Some 0:27:26.600 --> 0:27:29.320 of you had a big dream for your life. You 0:27:29.359 --> 0:27:31.160 were going to break out of the mold and set 0:27:31.240 --> 0:27:35.000 a new standard for your family. You had some disappointments. 0:27:35.680 --> 0:27:39.200 Nobody believed in you, nobody encouraged you. Now you think 0:27:39.240 --> 0:27:43.199 it's over. But God is saying it's not over. I 0:27:43.320 --> 0:27:47.560 have the final say, begin again. You have seeds of 0:27:47.640 --> 0:27:51.280 greatness on the inside. God wouldn't have put the promise 0:27:51.320 --> 0:27:54.159 in your heart unless he already intended to bring it 0:27:54.200 --> 0:27:58.639 to pass. Here's how the scripture puts it. Be confident 0:27:58.880 --> 0:28:02.320 of this, He that begin a good work in you 0:28:02.760 --> 0:28:06.159 will bring it to completion. Friends, God is saying to 0:28:06.240 --> 0:28:10.640 each one of you tonight, I'm going to complete your incompletions. 0:28:11.160 --> 0:28:14.480 I'm going to finish what I started. I remember the 0:28:14.560 --> 0:28:17.520 dreams I'm placed in your heart. I've lined up the 0:28:17.600 --> 0:28:21.679 right people, the right opportunities. It's not too late. You 0:28:21.760 --> 0:28:25.600 haven't missed too many opportunities. You haven't made too many mistakes. 0:28:26.520 --> 0:28:30.840 Begin again, get your fire back, get your passion back, 0:28:31.240 --> 0:28:35.320 and remember, if it doesn't happen your way, keep the 0:28:35.400 --> 0:28:38.920 right perspective. That would have been a healing. God has 0:28:38.960 --> 0:28:41.840 a resurrection, He has something better come in your way. 0:28:42.840 --> 0:28:47.280 If you'll stir your faith up, like Zarube bel told Zachariah, 0:28:47.640 --> 0:28:50.760 to be confident that God will finish what he started. 0:28:51.320 --> 0:28:55.200 Then I believe and declare God is going to complete 0:28:55.200 --> 0:28:56.400 your incompletions. 0:28:56.640 --> 0:28:58.800 He is going to shift things in your favor. 0:28:59.080 --> 0:29:01.240 He is going to release a flood of his goodness, 0:29:01.280 --> 0:29:04.360 a flood of mercy, a flood of ideas. You will 0:29:04.360 --> 0:29:09.160 overcome every obstacle, defeat every enemy, and become everything God's 0:29:09.160 --> 0:29:11.720 created you to be in Jesus' name. 0:29:15.320 --> 0:29:18.959 Thank you for listening to the Joelustine podcast. Help us 0:29:19.000 --> 0:29:21.880 continue to share the message of hope with those all 0:29:21.880 --> 0:29:26.040 over the world. Visit joeloustin dot com slash give Hope 0:29:26.120 --> 0:29:27.320 to give a gift today. 0:29:28.600 --> 0:29:31.040 Thanks so much for listening to today's message. 0:29:31.160 --> 0:29:33.920 I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest 0:29:33.960 --> 0:29:35.360 podcast to keep you. 0:29:35.400 --> 0:29:38.479 Inspired all through the week. We're praying for you. I 0:29:38.520 --> 0:29:41.440 know God's best is still ahead. We'll see you next time. 0:29:48.440 --> 0:29:50.440 Somewhere is here and our sleep is just as important 0:29:50.480 --> 0:29:52.600 as our weekend plans. 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