Living The Abundant Life

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See terms and conditions at UNEs 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:30.080 dot co. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.959 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:37.120 our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.840 enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.640 share it with a friends, reappreciate you and pray for 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:56.720 God's very best in your life. Will God bless you 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:00.800 always a joy to come into your homes. We love you, 0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:03.240 We know God has great things in store for each 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:05.720 one of you, and we pray for you every single day. 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.360 If you're ever in our area. I hope you'll stop 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:10.440 by and be a part of one of our services. 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.680 We give you a personal invitation. But thanks for tuning 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:16.880 in today. I like to start with something funny each week. 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.240 Of course, these are just jokes. I don't mean to 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.160 offend anybody, But I heard about this lady she was 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.240 speeding down the freeway. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:29.720 she was blonde. She was speeding down the freeway and 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.000 she got pulled over by a female police officer who 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:35.760 also happened to be blonde. She said, I need to 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:38.400 see your driver's license, and the lady dug and dug 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:41.400 through a purse, got more and more agitated. Finally, she 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:44.080 said to the officer, what does it look like? She said, well, 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:45.920 it's just a little square, and it's got your picture 0:02:46.000 --> 0:02:48.360 on it. The lady found a mirror and looked at 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:50.280 it and saw her picture, so she said oh and 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.200 handed it to the officer. The officer looked at it 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:55.520 and saw her picture. She handed it back and said, okay, 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:58.200 you can go. I didn't realize you were a police officer. 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.080 All right, I might need a ride home today. Y'all 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:08.359 say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:11.280 I am what it says I am. I have what 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:13.880 it says I have. I can do what it says 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.720 I can do. Today I will be taught the word 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:21.280 of God. I boldly confess. My mind is alert, my 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:26.000 heart is receptive. I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:29.280 God bless you. I want to talk to you today 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.720 about living the abundant life. God's dream is that you 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:36.600 not only be blessed, but you be blessed in such 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:40.480 a way that you're a blessing everywhere you go. We 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:44.440 should have so much peace, so much joy, so much victory. 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:48.640 When other people get around us, it spills over onto them. 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:53.520 David put it this way, my cup runs over. I 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:57.640 call it the overflow. Annoying. But too many people have 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:01.560 a barely get by mentality, barely able to pay my bills, 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.960 got an okay job, an okay marriage. No Jesus came 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:09.560 so we could live an abundant life. That means an 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:14.080 abundance of joy, an abundance of peace, an abundance of health, 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:18.160 and abundance in our finances. You may not be seeing 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:21.520 it right now, maybe you haven't experienced it in the past, 0:04:21.880 --> 0:04:25.159 but don't get complacent and just settle where you are. 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.360 Keep a big vision in front of you. I know 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:33.039 sometimes people ask me, Joel, are you a prosperity minister. No, 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:36.200 I don't consider myself a prosperity minister. But I can 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:40.279 tell you this, I am not a poverty minister. I 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:44.080 can't find anywhere in the scripture where we're supposed to 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:48.719 drag around defeated, depressed, barely getting by. I want you 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.159 to have a big dream for your life. You have 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.599 not reached your limits. You have not seen your best 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:59.320 days in your health, in your finances, in your relationships. 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.640 God wants to take you to new levels. But you've 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:06.640 got to do your part and enlarge your thinking, make 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.839 room for it in your mind, settle it right now. 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.680 This is where I am, but this is not where 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:15.680 I'm staying. I'm coming up higher. I'm gonna step into 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:19.880 that overflow anning. I'm gonna live the abundant life. The 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:23.279 scripture says here in Psalm thirty five twenty seven, let 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:27.920 them say continually, let the Lord be magnified, who has 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:32.200 pleasure in the prosperity of his children. Notice they were 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:35.880 supposed to go around saying this, Let God be magnified. 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.960 He has pleasure in prospering us. I believe one reason 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:42.640 they were supposed to say it all the time was 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:45.880 so it would get down on the inside. God knows 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:49.680 when we hear something long enough, will eventually start believing it. 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:53.440 All day long, they could hear them declaring this over 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:57.279 their life. God is prospering me. God has taking me 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:00.360 to new levels. God has great things in store. They 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.719 were saying. In effect, new doors are opening, my health 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.160 is getting better, my marriage is being restored, my children 0:06:07.200 --> 0:06:10.719 are going to do great things. Friends. God takes great 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:15.200 joy in prospering. You get that down on the inside. 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:17.920 Some of you have been stuck in a rut. You've 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:21.760 come from generations of lack and defeat and mediocrity, and 0:06:21.839 --> 0:06:24.279 now you've just about accepted that that's all you're going 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.719 to see. But God is saying, this is a new day. 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:32.880 You're entering into new levels. You're going to get supernatural opportunities. 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:34.919 People are going to go out of their way to 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:38.320 be good to you. It's because number one, you've been 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:42.599 obedient and number two, you've released your faith in this area. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.679 Now I know this is what my father did. Daddy 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:49.280 grew up in extreme poverty. But at the age of seventeen, 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:52.479 when he gave his life to the Lord, something rose 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:55.640 up on the inside of him and he said, my 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:59.560 children will never be raised in the lack and defeat 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:02.320 that I'm in. Right now, he drew the line in 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.760 the sand and said, this is where I am, but 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:08.200 this is not where I'm staying. Back in those days, 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.240 as a young minister, he was taught you had to 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.720 be poor in order to be holy, and the churches 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:18.360 he pastored, he did his part and stayed holy, and 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:22.040 they did their part and kept him poor. My mother 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:25.440 and father were raising five children, making one hundred and 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:28.840 twenty dollars a week, barely able to survive. Now. I 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.280 remember my father telling how in nineteen fifty nine, when 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.320 they opened Lakewood in the little feed store, one of 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.760 his main men came up and said, we need to 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.600 buy a water fountain. It's going to cost seventy dollars. 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:43.720 My father thought he had lost his mind. He said, 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:46.280 are you kidding? Where do you think we'll get that 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.400 kind of money. He had a poverty mentality. That's all 0:07:50.480 --> 0:07:53.000 he had ever known, and it was setting the limits 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:56.400 for his life. We will never rise any higher than 0:07:56.440 --> 0:08:00.040 our own thinking. You've got to be fully convinced that 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:03.280 God not only takes pleasure in prospering you, but he 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:06.320 has new levels in store. He wants you to go 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:10.400 further than you are right now. The scripture says a 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:14.960 good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. That 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:18.400 means we're supposed to leave something to our grandchildren. And 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:22.920 that's not just talking about good memories. And understand, God 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:25.440 would not ask us to do something if he had 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:28.800 not already provided away. You may not see how it 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.720 can happen, but if you'll stay in faith and keep 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.720 a big vision, God will make a way you can 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:38.160 fulfill that promise. Now I can hear a word down 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:42.599 on the inside, so strongly acceleration. Things are going to 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:48.640 happen faster than you thought. Supernatural breaks, supernatural opportunities. Doors 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:51.400 are going to open for you that at one time 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:54.920 you thought were impossible. God is going to move people 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:58.679 around to get you into the right position. Keep believing 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:03.000 and keep being your best. Be a person of excellence. 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.560 Get to work on time, give it one hundred percent, 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:10.600 whether anyone's watching or not. Learn to work under God 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:14.160 and not under people. When you sow these kinds of seeds. 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:17.960 That's when you're gonna come into this overflow annoying. And 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:20.600 I don't say this bragging in any way, but God 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:24.040 has blessed Victoria and I belong to our wildest dreams. 0:09:24.520 --> 0:09:27.679 It talks about in Psalm one thirty three, the annoying 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.480 that's on the head flows down to the rest of 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:33.560 the body. You may not have seen it yet, but 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:37.640 get ready, it's on its way. We've experienced that. And 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:40.280 if you will stay in faith, it's just a matter 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:44.120 of time. You're coming into new seasons of increase, new 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:47.360 seasons of favor. Doors are gonna open for you that 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.280 will boggle your mind. You're gonna get breaks where you 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:52.400 look back and say, that had to be the hand 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:56.800 of God. What happened you stepped into that overflow annoying? Well, 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.720 you say, Joel, my family and I we've always struggled. 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.160 See how it could happen for me. No, you can 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.280 be the first. But you've got to get rid of 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:09.720 that defeated mindset and develop a prosperous mentality. I heard 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:13.760 somebody say this package yourself for where you're going, not 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.040 for where you are. In other words, you've got to 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:19.679 look the part. Put your shoulders back, put a smile 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:23.520 on your face, and dress your best. Don't just run 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:26.240 out of the house looking sloppy. Didn't have time to 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.920 iron my shirt, hadn't bought myself anything new in five years. Now, 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:32.880 You've got to take care of yourself. If you feel 0:10:32.880 --> 0:10:36.200 sloppy on the outside, before long, it's going to get 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:39.960 on the inside. Just the opposite is true. If you'll 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.720 take the time to look your best each day and 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:45.800 package yourself for where you're going, not for where you are, 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:48.880 that too, will get on the inside, and you'll begin 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:52.680 to develop this prosperous mindset. I love the story of 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.560 the prodigal son. When the young man came back home 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:58.640 after wasting all of his money and living a wild life, 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:03.200 the father was so excited he said, go kill the 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:08.440 fatted calf. Go get the best robe. Notice he didn't say, 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:12.319 go get me a weak, sick, straggly looking calf. Go 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:14.800 get me that old robe that I never wear anymore, 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:18.040 that's torn, that's all beat up looking. No, he said, 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:20.199 go get the best robe and put it on him. 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:25.240 Go kill the fatted calf. That's the way God thinks. Abundance. 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:28.400 The older brother who had been there the whole time. 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.080 He got kind of jealous. He said, Dad, I don't 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:34.600 understand it. I've been here all this time, but you've 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:39.200 never even given me one translation says a skinny goat. 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.400 That's the way a lot of people are. They're limited 0:11:42.480 --> 0:11:45.960 in their thinking. I'll never rise any higher, I'll never 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:47.840 get out of this mess. I've gone as far as 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.200 I can go. You know what their problem is. They 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:54.439 have a skinny goat mentality. The fact is there are 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:58.360 other people in that same situation, but their attitude is 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.880 I'm coming out. Oh God takes pleasure in prospering me. 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.200 I may not see how it's gonna happen, but I 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.560 know God's a supernatural god, and I'm coming into new 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:12.920 seasons of increase. What's the difference. They have a fatted 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:17.320 calf mentality. If you're going to experience God's best, if 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.040 you're gonna come into this overflow annoying, you have to 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:22.880 keep a big vision in front of you. I was 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.439 at the mall one time years ago with a friend 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:27.920 of mine and we were just killing time looking at 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:31.559 things and every other phrase. He said, I can't afford 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.960 it looking at sporting equipment. I can't afford it. Looking 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.120 at some shirts, I can't afford it. Looking at shoes, 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.440 I can't afford it. Finally, I said, will you quit 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:43.319 saying I can't afford it? If you keep saying that, 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:46.280 you're never going to be able to afford anything, he 0:12:46.480 --> 0:12:49.679 was setting the limits for his life with his own words. 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:52.880 The truth is, most of the things we were looking 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.520 at I couldn't afford either. But I've learned I don't 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:58.800 have to announce it to the world. And if you 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:02.080 can't afford something, I'm not saying to lie to have 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:05.360 some kind of fantasy land in your head. I'm simply saying, 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:07.080 if you're gonna say that, you need to at least 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:10.480 add two more words. I can't afford it right now. 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:16.000 It's just a matter of time. I know, because I'm faithful, 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:20.199 God will give me the desires of my heart. But friends, 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:22.320 if you have a poor mouth, you're gonna have a 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:25.160 poor life. If you go around saying, well, I'll probably 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:27.360 never get out of debt. Joel, I don't see how 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.760 I could send my kids to college. Now, can I 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:34.520 say two words to your very respectfully skinny goat. You 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:38.360 need to switch over into this fatted calf mentality. Why 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:41.360 don't you believe that God could open up the windows 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:44.360 of heaven for you and pour out blessings you can't contain. 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:48.560 Why don't you believe that goodness, mercy, favor follow you 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:51.000 all the days of your life. Why don't you believe 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.920 like David, your cup is running over? Instead of going 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.599 around with that poor mouth, you need to start declaring. 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.440 God takes pleasure in prospering me. I have not reached 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:05.200 my limits. I know that overflow annoying is coming my way. 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:09.240 When we were drawing plans to renovate this facility, the 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.520 first instructions I gave to the design team was to 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.920 do it as cheap as possible. I had no idea 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:17.640 how we were going to pay for it. And one 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:19.840 day we were walking through the lobbies with the whole 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:23.480 architectural team and they said, Joel, we're planning on putting 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.200 carpet over all this tile. I said, no, we don't 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.400 need to do that. This tile is fine. It was 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:32.920 thirty years old, had big cracks in it. There were 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:36.040 these large stains where they had moved the concession stands, 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.800 but in my mind it was fine. We went into 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:42.240 the restroom areas they said, we're planning on replacing the 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:46.240 stalls and replacing the sinks and changing out this tile. Again. 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.120 I said, no, no, no, this is just fine. Well, 0:14:49.160 --> 0:14:51.920 my brother in law, Kevin was with me. He's our 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:55.800 administrator and in charge of all of our construction. He said, Joel, 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:58.800 we are not going to let people go into these restrooms. 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:02.320 They are terrible. I thought to myself, where did he 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:07.080 get such a fatted calf mentality? Then I remembered he 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:11.080 was raised on a farm in Iowa. No wonder, but 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:15.120 I had this skinny goat mentality. My first idea was 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:18.800 to use portable buildings to have our children's services, and 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.920 to just do the minimal amount of lighting and sound. 0:15:22.000 --> 0:15:24.280 And they said if we did just that, we could 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:27.240 probably get in here for twenty five million dollars. So 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.240 we went and met with our bankers. We'd known these 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.520 people forever. We had excellent credit at that time. We 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.280 didn't have one penny of debt, millions and millions of 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.160 dollars worth of assets, and we simply asked if we 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:42.160 could borrow twenty five million dollars. Man, it was like 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:46.080 pulling teeth. They told me how we were such a 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.720 big risk and how we might not be able to 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:50.920 pay him back, and how we just shouldn't do that. 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:54.960 I left there so discouraged. I thought, man alive. I 0:15:55.000 --> 0:15:58.800 may have a skinny goat mentality, but their goat is starving. 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:05.280 Their goat hadn't even in six months. I was so down. 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:07.400 I didn't know what we were going to do. But 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:11.040 about two weeks later, we met with another bank, Bank 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:14.600 of America. We'd never dealt with them before, but it 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:18.240 was a night and day difference. They were excited for us, 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:20.920 they wanted to help. We weren't in the meeting five 0:16:21.000 --> 0:16:23.200 minutes before they pulled out a letter and said, we're 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:26.320 prepared to loan you twenty five million dollars today. They 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.640 hadn't even seen our finance, They didn't know anything about us. 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:35.360 I was so excited. I thought to myself, if they'll 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:39.320 loan us twenty five million that quickly, maybe they'll loan 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:42.040 us the sixty that we really need to do it right. 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.400 I laughed and said twenty five is great, but how 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.560 about sixty? They came back a couple weeks later and said, 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.480 you got a deal. Friends. God has the right people, 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:57.000 the right opportunities, the right breaks already lined up for 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:01.280 You don't have a skinny goat mentality, dare to believe. 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.280 You may not see how it could happen, but that 0:17:04.320 --> 0:17:06.960 doesn't mean it's not going to happen. People may have 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:10.159 told you no a thousand times. Now you're kind of 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:13.399 discouraged and tempted to just settle where you are, but 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:17.000 you've got to get your fireback. God is in control 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.600 and he still has a way to bring your dreams 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:22.800 to pass. Every time you walk out in those lobbies, 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:25.840 every time you look at this beautiful facility, it should 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:29.920 remind us that our God has a fatted calf mentality. 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.720 God wants to do more than we can even ask 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:37.320 or think. It says in Deuteronomy twenty eight, if you 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.920 will fully obey the Lord your God and fall of 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:45.240 his commands, these blessings will come upon you. That means 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:48.040 they will overtake you, and it goes on to list 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:51.359 blessing after blessing. It says you will be blessed in 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.840 the city and blessed in the country. Your seed will 0:17:54.840 --> 0:17:58.919 be blessed. That's your children and grandchildren. Your business and 0:17:59.040 --> 0:18:02.159 career will be bless Everything you put your hands to 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:05.359 will prosper. You will be the head and not the tail. 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:09.439 Verse eleven sums it up. God will fill your life 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:12.640 with an abundance of good things. But here's the key. 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:16.960 All these blessings are dependent on the very first phrase. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:21.879 If you fully obey the Lord your God. Obedience is 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.639 a key to see in God's blessings. You have to 0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:28.280 lay aside any weights that are holding you back. When 0:18:28.359 --> 0:18:31.960 God brings to light issues and attitudes that you know 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:35.600 are not right, be quick to change. The longer you 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:39.280 put it off, the more you delay God's blessings. When 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:42.440 God asks you to do something hard, maybe he asks 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:45.520 you to forgive somebody that really hurts you, or he 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:48.359 asks you to give up a relationship that you know 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:52.280 is not healthy. God's never trying to take anything away. 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:56.080 He's trying to get more to you. The more obedience 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:59.480 you are, the more of his blessings. You will see. 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:04.760 God rewards people that fully obey, and a lot of 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:09.919 times partial obedience is what's keeping people in mediocrity. And 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:11.960 some of you are holding on to things that you 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:14.520 know are not God's best. Let me tell you it's 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.040 not worth it. Be willing to change now. I realize 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:21.679 the pain of change can be difficult, but the pain 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:26.040 of staying the same is even more difficult. Don't miss 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:29.440 this abundant life because you refuse to deal with issues. 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:33.080 And this is between you and God. Nobody can make 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:36.120 you treat people right. Nobody can make you stay pure 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:38.640 in your thought life or pure in your marriage. It's 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:42.480 totally up to you. I want you to experience this 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:46.320 overflow annoying. And I know when you walk in obedience, 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:49.840 when you live a life that honors God, his blessings 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:53.199 will chase you down and overtake you. You will not be 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:56.440 able to outrun the good things of God. It says 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.800 in Deuteronomy there was a law that God gave Moses 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:03.920 the people of Israel, and it's said that every seventh 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:08.159 year you had to release any Hebrew slaves. And the 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.639 way it worked was if you were Hebrew and you 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:15.439 owed someone money but you couldn't pay, that person had 0:20:15.480 --> 0:20:18.119 a right to take you in as a slave and 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:20.840 force you to work full time for them until you 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:24.320 paid them back. But God did not want his people 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:29.560 to remain slaves forever. So every seventh year this law said, 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:32.600 no matter how much you owed, no matter how in 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:35.119 debt you were. If you were a part of God's 0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:39.200 chosen people, you had a special advantage and you got released. 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:43.520 This tells me that God does not want his people 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:47.680 to remain permanent slaves to anything. You may be in 0:20:47.720 --> 0:20:50.760 debt today, but God doesn't want that to last forever. 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:55.080 You may be facing sickness, but that's only temporary. You 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:58.200 may be bound by some kind of addiction, but God 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:00.600 doesn't want you to stay in bondage. You need to 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:03.640 see that as temporary. This had to do with their 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:08.240 finances every seventh year. They were released, all the debt, 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:12.280 the lack, the struggling. In one moment, they walked away 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:16.359 from it total freedom. You may be struggling today, maybe 0:21:16.359 --> 0:21:19.040 you haven't seen a lot of increase, but I can 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:22.600 sense in my spirit we're entering into one of those 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:27.280 seventh years. The seventh year begins new seasons of increase. 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:30.480 It's a time where God's going to break bondages off 0:21:30.480 --> 0:21:38.480 of you that have held you back, bondages of debt, lack, sicknesses, addictions, depression, mediocrity. 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:42.800 The seventh year is a time of release. It's a 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:46.239 time of freedom. You've got to do your part and 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.320 get this on the inside. Believe. This is my seventh year. 0:21:50.720 --> 0:21:53.840 This is my time to be free. I'm being released 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:58.680 into increase. It talks about in Exodus fifteen that even 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:02.920 though some people had a legal right to be free 0:22:02.960 --> 0:22:06.119 from that slavery, they could have walked away from the 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:09.840 debt and the bondage, but they chose not to. You 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:13.240 know why. They were comfortable, They were satisfied. They didn't 0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:15.680 want to rock the boat. Here. They had all that 0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:19.120 freedom in front of them. They had an abundance of joy, 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:23.240 peace and victory, but they chose to remain as slaves. 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:27.240 Don't let that be you. You have been released into increase, 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:30.080 this is your seventh year, but you've got to rise 0:22:30.160 --> 0:22:33.080 up and take hold of it. And the scripture tells 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:37.879 how all of God's promises are yes and Amen. A 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:40.040 lot of times people hear this and they think, yes, 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:42.920 God wants to prosper me. Yes God wants to bless me. 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:46.560 Yes God wants to heal me. But yes alone is 0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:49.200 not enough. You've got to add the amen to it. 0:22:49.880 --> 0:22:53.359 Amen means be it under me. In other words, I 0:22:53.480 --> 0:22:56.439 receive this by faith. I let this take root in 0:22:56.520 --> 0:23:00.000 my spirit. See, it's one thing to know that God 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:02.640 God wants to heal you. It's another thing to rise 0:23:02.720 --> 0:23:05.800 up and say, God is my healer. He's restoring health 0:23:05.880 --> 0:23:08.600 unto me. It's one thing to know God wants you 0:23:08.640 --> 0:23:11.560 to be free. It's another thing to rise up and say, 0:23:11.760 --> 0:23:15.320 I am free. This addiction cannot control me. It's one 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:17.440 thing to know God wants you to be blessed. It's 0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:20.120 another thing to rise up and say, God is supplying 0:23:20.160 --> 0:23:22.800 all of my needs. I'm coming into the seventh year. 0:23:23.200 --> 0:23:26.760 This is my season of increase. You have to mix 0:23:26.880 --> 0:23:30.480 faith with it. You add the amen by making it personal. 0:23:30.720 --> 0:23:33.760 I am blessed, I am prosperous. I am the head 0:23:34.040 --> 0:23:36.520 and not the tail. One time there was a great 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:40.000 famine in the land. The prophet Elijah was at a brook, 0:23:40.520 --> 0:23:43.399 and every day, once in the morning and once in 0:23:43.440 --> 0:23:47.600 the evening, God caused a raven to bring him bread 0:23:47.920 --> 0:23:50.359 and bring him meat. This went on for three and 0:23:50.400 --> 0:23:52.960 a half years. And you think about during a time 0:23:53.000 --> 0:23:56.520 of famine, there was nowhere to get food, the people 0:23:56.560 --> 0:23:59.960 didn't have it. How much less likely would this bird 0:24:00.240 --> 0:24:03.080 be able to do it. But God calls that raven 0:24:03.119 --> 0:24:06.879 to supernaturally find food. He would come with bread in 0:24:06.920 --> 0:24:10.080 one claw and meet in the other claw, and just 0:24:10.240 --> 0:24:13.920 like clockwork, at breakfast and at dinner, he would swoop 0:24:13.960 --> 0:24:17.480 in and just drop it on Elijah's plate. Isn't it 0:24:17.520 --> 0:24:22.399 funny God thought of home delivery before pizza hut. But 0:24:22.560 --> 0:24:25.520 some of you are wondering how God can supply your needs? 0:24:26.040 --> 0:24:28.040 How can I ever get out of debt? Joel? How 0:24:28.040 --> 0:24:31.080 can I be well? How can I rise higher? God 0:24:31.320 --> 0:24:35.359 is a supernatural God. He supersedes the laws of nature. 0:24:35.840 --> 0:24:39.639 He supersedes the laws of medicine, the laws of finance. 0:24:40.320 --> 0:24:44.720 What's interesting is the raven that brought Elijah food every 0:24:44.800 --> 0:24:47.960 day was called a fowl of the air. It was 0:24:48.000 --> 0:24:51.879 an unclean bird. You remember in the Parable of the Sower, 0:24:52.480 --> 0:24:55.879 Jesus talked about when the seed was sown on a 0:24:55.920 --> 0:24:58.840 certain kind of soil, the fowls of the air came 0:24:58.880 --> 0:25:03.479 immediately to try to steal it. The fowl represented the enemy. 0:25:04.000 --> 0:25:07.600 And what God was saying to Elijah by having this raven, 0:25:07.840 --> 0:25:11.400 this fowl bring him food every day. After all, God 0:25:11.440 --> 0:25:14.240 could have chosen a dove that represents the Holy Spirit. 0:25:14.640 --> 0:25:17.919 But God was saying, Elijah, if you will be obedient 0:25:18.119 --> 0:25:20.760 and go where I tell you to go, I'll cause 0:25:20.920 --> 0:25:24.320 even your enemies to bless you. I'll cause your enemies 0:25:24.320 --> 0:25:29.760 to supply your knees. Friends. God controls it all. He 0:25:29.800 --> 0:25:33.200 can cause your biggest enemy to be your biggest blessing. 0:25:33.880 --> 0:25:35.920 He can cause the people that are trying to push 0:25:35.920 --> 0:25:38.160 you down to be the very ones that lift you up. 0:25:38.800 --> 0:25:41.439 He can take that sickness that's meant for your harm 0:25:41.800 --> 0:25:44.560 and turn it around and use it to make you stronger. 0:25:45.040 --> 0:25:47.760 When you stay in faith, God will use your enemies 0:25:47.800 --> 0:25:51.639 to increase you well. Eventually, the brook dried up and 0:25:51.680 --> 0:25:54.840 the ravens quit coming, and God spoke to Elijah and 0:25:54.880 --> 0:25:57.760 told him to go to a widow's home and she 0:25:57.800 --> 0:26:00.680 would take care of him. He did. When he got there, 0:26:00.720 --> 0:26:03.879 he asked her for something to eat. She agreed, but 0:26:03.960 --> 0:26:06.760 she said, this is my last little bit of meal. 0:26:07.400 --> 0:26:09.919 She was planning on making him dinner, and then she 0:26:10.040 --> 0:26:13.320 and her baby would probably die, probably just starve to death. 0:26:13.720 --> 0:26:17.240 So she reached down into that big barrel and scooped 0:26:17.280 --> 0:26:20.520 out the last cupful of meal. But then she just 0:26:20.600 --> 0:26:23.280 looked down and passing, and she saw some more. She thought, well, 0:26:23.320 --> 0:26:26.040 I must have missed some. She reached down and scooped 0:26:26.119 --> 0:26:29.280 up another cupful, look back down, she saw more meal. 0:26:29.800 --> 0:26:33.639 This happened again and again. God caused that meal to 0:26:33.800 --> 0:26:38.440 supernaturally keep multiplying, and instead of going through seven years 0:26:38.440 --> 0:26:42.359 of famine, she went through seven years of increase. What 0:26:42.520 --> 0:26:46.119 happened she hit one of those seventh years where she 0:26:46.280 --> 0:26:50.280 was released into increase. I believe God is saying that 0:26:50.320 --> 0:26:54.080 to each one of you, it's your seventh year. It's 0:26:54.119 --> 0:26:58.000 your time to be released from debt into increase, from 0:26:58.200 --> 0:27:03.240 sickness into health, from bondages into freedom. Why don't you 0:27:03.280 --> 0:27:06.879 get this down into your spirit have the attitude, Yes, 0:27:07.520 --> 0:27:10.480 this is my seventh year. I am coming out of debt. 0:27:10.840 --> 0:27:14.200 I'm gonna break this addiction. I'm gonna defeat this sickness. 0:27:14.240 --> 0:27:18.200 I'm gonna overcome these obstacles, the chains of lack, defeat, 0:27:18.320 --> 0:27:21.120 mediocrity or broken off of me. I'm coming into new 0:27:21.200 --> 0:27:25.240 seasons of increase. I know some of you, like that widow, 0:27:25.320 --> 0:27:27.359 you kind of feel like you've been in a famine. 0:27:27.840 --> 0:27:30.879 You haven't seen a lot of increase in the natural. 0:27:30.920 --> 0:27:33.919 The future doesn't look very bright. But God is saying 0:27:33.960 --> 0:27:37.760 to us, if you'll stay in faith, that famine is 0:27:37.800 --> 0:27:39.960 going to come to an end. And you're going to 0:27:40.000 --> 0:27:45.760 come in to supernatural increase, supernatural blessing, supernatural opportunities. If 0:27:45.840 --> 0:27:49.480 God can cause a bird to take care of Elijah 0:27:49.560 --> 0:27:52.080 for three and a half years, he can surely take 0:27:52.080 --> 0:27:54.439 care of you and me. Why don't you get rid 0:27:54.480 --> 0:27:58.400 of that skinny goat mentality and start thinking, fatted calf. 0:27:58.760 --> 0:28:02.000 God wants you to live his abundant life. He's already 0:28:02.040 --> 0:28:05.840 paid the price. When you walk in obedience, you have 0:28:05.920 --> 0:28:09.399 a big vision. He's promised his blessings are going to 0:28:09.480 --> 0:28:12.639 chase you down and overtake you. And that's my prayer 0:28:12.680 --> 0:28:14.960 for each one of you, that you will come into 0:28:15.000 --> 0:28:18.720 this overflow annoying, that you will see God pour out 0:28:18.760 --> 0:28:23.160 blessings that you can't even contain. I believe something supernatural 0:28:23.280 --> 0:28:26.400 happens when it's spoken over us, So I speak over 0:28:26.480 --> 0:28:30.560 you an abundance of health, an abundance of joy, and 0:28:30.640 --> 0:28:34.640 abundance in your finances. You are being released into increase. 0:28:35.240 --> 0:28:39.000 The tide of the battle is turning. God is accelerating 0:28:39.080 --> 0:28:42.160 his blessings in your life. The chains that have tried 0:28:42.200 --> 0:28:45.200 to hold you back in your mind, in your health, 0:28:45.520 --> 0:28:48.680 in your relationships, in your business, they are being broken 0:28:48.760 --> 0:28:52.280 off of you. God is releasing favor into your future. 0:28:52.600 --> 0:28:55.920 The right people, the right opportunities are coming across your path. 0:28:56.440 --> 0:28:59.520 You will be blessed in the city, blessed in the country, 0:28:59.720 --> 0:29:02.200 blessed when you come in, blessed when you go out. 0:29:02.560 --> 0:29:06.080 Your seed will be mighty on the land, and abundance 0:29:06.240 --> 0:29:09.239 of good things are coming your way. I declare it 0:29:09.280 --> 0:29:11.440 in the name of Jesus, and if you receive it, 0:29:11.720 --> 0:29:16.120 can you say amen. We never like to close our 0:29:16.160 --> 0:29:19.520 broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the 0:29:19.600 --> 0:29:23.880 lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord, Jesus, 0:29:24.440 --> 0:29:29.080 I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I 0:29:29.200 --> 0:29:32.400 make you my Lord and save you. Friends, if you 0:29:32.480 --> 0:29:35.120 prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. 0:29:35.520 --> 0:29:38.520 Get in a good Bible based church. Keep God first place. 0:29:38.800 --> 0:29:41.200 He's going to take your places that you've never dreamed of. 0:29:41.920 --> 0:29:44.800 Thank you for listening to the joel OUs Deine podcast. 0:29:45.160 --> 0:29:47.760 Help us continue to share the message of hope with 0:29:47.880 --> 0:29:49.240 those all over the world. 0:29:49.560 --> 0:29:51.120 Visit jolostin dot. 0:29:50.920 --> 0:29:53.959 Com slash give Hope to give a gift today. 0:29:55.240 --> 0:29:58.160 Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope 0:29:58.160 --> 0:30:01.520 you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to 0:30:01.600 --> 0:30:04.800 keep you inspired all through the week. We're praying for you. 0:30:05.000 --> 0:30:07.440 I know God's best to steal ahead. We'll see you 0:30:07.520 --> 0:30:08.000 next time.