Protect Your Imagination

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This is not an 0:00:57.440 --> 0:00:59.440 offer to buy yourself security snor is it investment legal 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:00.640 or taxi by He'll. 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:02.800 Forget about the video game you gave him on his birthday. 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:05.000 Wow, thanks Grandpa, But. 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.200 He'll never forget how you invest it in his future 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:08.240 with the units stapp. 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:10.400 Wow, thanks Grandpa. 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.560 The unit stap makes it easy for grandparents and family 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:16.480 friends to give funds to a child's investment account. 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:17.080 For a limited time. 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:19.319 Download the uns stapp and use the code I heeart 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:21.680 fifty at sign up to receive a fifty dollars bonus 0:01:21.680 --> 0:01:24.240 when you find your account. That's code iHeart fifty when 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:27.240 you sign up at unest dot co for a fifty 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.080 dollars bonus. See terms and conditions at UNEs dot co. 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:33.959 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.759 our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.240 If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:40.839 blessing and share it with a friends. 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.840 We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:48.040 your life. 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:56.800 Oh about bless you. 0:01:57.120 --> 0:01:59.400 It's a joy to come into your homes and if 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:02.160 you're ever in a area, please stop by and be 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:03.760 a part of one of our services. 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.559 I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:09.639 I like to start with something funny, and I heard 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:14.160 about these two evil brothers that were very wealthy. One 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.600 of them died. His brother said to the pastor, I'll 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:20.600 make a deal with you. I'll make a large donation 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:24.560 to your church under one condition if at the funeral 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:27.079 you'll say my brother was a saint. 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.120 The pastor agreed, and the man made the donation. 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:33.720 During the service, the pastor said, this man was an 0:02:33.760 --> 0:02:37.920 evil man. He lied, he cheated, he stole, but compared 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:41.920 to his brother, he was a saint. Say it like 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.680 you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.200 it says I am. I have what it says I have. 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:50.400 I can do what it says I can do. Today 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.400 I will be taught the word of God. I'll boldly 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:57.480 confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I 0:02:57.520 --> 0:02:59.680 will never be the same in Jesus. 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:01.520 Now, God bless you. 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:06.280 Want to talk to you today about protecting your imagination. 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:09.520 We all have pictures that we see in our mind. 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:11.560 God created us as. 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:16.359 Visual beings like a movie screen. Different images will come up. 0:03:17.040 --> 0:03:20.360 Sometimes we're not even thinking about it, and the negative 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:25.040 imagination will come. We'll see our business going down, our child, 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:25.760 getting off. 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:29.720 Course, us, losing our health. There's no truth to it. 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:31.920 It's not going to come to pass. But if you 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:36.080 let that play, you'll go through the day worried. Wrong 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:40.280 imaginations will keep you awake at night, dwelling on these 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.440 negative images, will cause. 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:43.240 You to live in fear. 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:47.560 It will keep you from expecting God's best. It's all 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:48.680 an imagination. 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:50.640 It's not a reality. 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:54.240 It's just something you're seeing in your mind, and it's 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:56.800 one thing to have something to deal with. 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:57.920 That's actually happening. 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:02.280 We all face challenges, but too often we're letting these 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:07.320 wrong imaginations of what might happen, what might not work out, 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.120 what might fall apart to steal our joy, cause us 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:16.040 to live stressed. The good news is you control your imagination. 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:21.400 You control what pictures play in your mind. Just because 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:25.200 that negative image comes doesn't mean you have to tune in. 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.320 You can change the channel. The scripture tells us to 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:35.080 cast down these wrong imaginations, quit letting these negative images play. 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.479 When my mother was fighting terminal cancer, in the middle 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:43.560 of the night, lying in bed, she would see herself 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.680 being buried in a new pink dress that she had 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:50.279 never worn. That picture came up on the movie screen 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:53.839 of her life. She didn't ask for it, she wasn't 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:56.800 thinking about it. She was trying to stay in faith. 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:02.200 But these negative imaginations will calm especially when we're in 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:06.760 difficult times. They'll show us all the worst case scenarios. 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:09.680 Have you ever noticed when you're in the heat of 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.840 the battle, you never see pictures of your overcoming the sickness, 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.320 if your business taken off, you're meeting the person of 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:20.919 your dreams. Those pictures don't automatically come. 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:23.120 It's just the opposite. 0:05:23.320 --> 0:05:25.800 If my mother would have pulled up a chair and 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:29.239 watched that movie night after night of her being buried 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.240 in that pink dress, that would have taken root in 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:36.080 her spirit. She would have become depressed, defeated, and might 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:40.200 not be here today. When you see these negative pictures, 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:44.680 don't take de bait. They are not a reality. That 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:48.920 is not predicting your future. That is a wrong imagination 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:53.160 that you need to cast down. Quit worrying about something 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:57.320 that's not going to happen. Quit losing sleep over something 0:05:57.640 --> 0:06:01.440 that's just in your mind. That's the enemy trying to 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:05.719 torment you, try to convince you to live stressed out worried. 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:08.279 He knows he can't bring it to pass. 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.920 He doesn't have that authority, so the next best thing 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:16.240 he'll do is try to deceive you into believing that 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:19.800 it's a reality, so you don't enjoy your life. Don't 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:23.440 fall into that trap. Guard your mind. I talked to 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.760 a man that was very concerned about his health. His 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:30.240 father died at the age of forty six, his grandfather 0:06:30.360 --> 0:06:33.760 died at fifty one, and other relatives had died early 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:37.640 deaths as well. All through his thirties and forties, he 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:40.080 was so stressed and so fearful. 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:44.120 Every voice said, that's going to be you, too bad. 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:46.280 It's in your genes. You're not going to make it. 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:48.599 Those images would come in his mind. 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:53.880 He saw himself like his father, getting sick, going downhill. 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:57.880 When he made it to his forty seventh birthday, he was. 0:06:57.880 --> 0:06:59.919 So happy, so relieved. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.279 He made it past his father's He was still strong 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:04.000 and healthy. 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:06.640 Thought said, don't get too happy. 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:09.760 You made it to forty seven, but you'll never make 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.320 it to fifty one. It's just a matter of time. 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:17.720 Those images kept coming, him going downhill, him losing his health. 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:21.000 But he made it past fifty one. He made it 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:23.480 past sixty one, past seventy one. 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:24.320 Past eighty one. 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:30.800 He was ninety three years old, looked like he was seventy, strong, healthy, joyful. 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.840 He said, Joel, if I had it to do over again, 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:40.000 I wouldn't have lived all those years worried, losing sleep, afraid. 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:41.320 That my health wasn't going to last. 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:46.760 Are you worrying about a wrong imagination, about something that's 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.480 not going to come to pass. Are you going to 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:52.480 look back years from now and have to say, like him, 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.040 if I could do it over again, I wouldn't spend 0:07:56.120 --> 0:08:00.320 all that time discouraged, afraid over what I thought was 0:08:00.360 --> 0:08:04.120 going to happen. Why don't you start changing the channel. 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:09.120 Those negative pictures are not a reality. Some of the 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:11.800 things the enemy is showing you. He should win an 0:08:11.840 --> 0:08:16.600 Academy award. It looks very real, it looks impressive, but 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:17.760 it's all made up. 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:19.720 It is not going to happen. 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:21.480 Quit believing those lies. 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:24.840 This scripture goes on to say you have to bring 0:08:25.000 --> 0:08:27.000 down every high. 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:31.000 Thing that exalts itself above what God says about you. 0:08:31.680 --> 0:08:33.679 God's not going to do it for you. 0:08:33.679 --> 0:08:34.840 You have to bring it down. 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.480 God says you will lend and not borrow. Whatever you 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:44.000 touch will prosper and succeed. Instead of watching that picture 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:49.160 of you struggling, not having enough business, going down cast, 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:55.320 down that imagination that's exalting itself above what God promised you. 0:08:56.120 --> 0:09:00.559 Start seeing yourself prosperous, coming out of debt, paying your 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.640 house off, having an abundance so you can be. 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:04.680 A blessing to others. 0:09:05.520 --> 0:09:09.080 That image is not going to automatically come, but you 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:13.680 can create it. Use your imagination for the right purposes 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:17.640 to see what God says about you. God says, with 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:21.400 long life, he will satisfy you. Instead of watching that 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:25.520 channel of you going downhill, being buried in that pink dress, 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:28.320 not making it past your father's. 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.280 Death, bring down that imagination. 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:35.880 Start seeing yourself strong, healthy, living a full, blessed life. 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:40.120 Or maybe you've gone through a disappointment, a loss, an 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:44.160 unfair situation. Life hasn't turned out the way you had planned. 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:48.920 Those images will come up of you living depressed, lonely, 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:53.560 never fulfilled. But God says he will give you beauty 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.920 for those ashes, that he will pay you back double 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.520 for what was unfair, That he will take what meant 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:02.320 for your harm and use. 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:03.360 It to your advantage. 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:09.439 Those pictures that are showing you defeated, rejected, lonely, they 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:14.440 are exalting themselves above what God said about you. Don't 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:17.320 let them stay up, bring them down. They are not 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:21.319 a reality. See the enemy will show you the ashes. 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.360 What he won't show you is the beauty that's coming. 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:27.760 He'll show you the loss. What he wants show you 0:10:28.160 --> 0:10:31.080 is the new beginning that's on the way. He'll show 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.000 you that it's all downhill from here. What he wants 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.120 show you is the double that's coming, double the joy, 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:39.319 double the peace, double the fulfillment. 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:40.880 Now do your part. 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:47.040 Protect your imagination, protect what you're seeing. When those images 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.480 come that show you going downhill, they are not from 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:54.960 God and they are not a reality. Don't waste thirty 0:10:55.040 --> 0:11:00.160 years living worried, stressed out switch over into fame. The 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.920 mistake many people make is they only watch one channel. 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:07.679 Whatever comes up in their imagination. They think that's all 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:09.120 there is, so they watch it. 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:11.920 You need to get cable in your mind. 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.120 I have five hundred stations at home. When I'm watching 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:19.200 something I don't like, I don't sit there and endure it. 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.840 I simply change the channel. It's the same way in 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:25.920 your mind. You can have a lot of different channels. 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:32.120 On one channel, I see myself happy, fulfilled, enjoying life. 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.840 On another channel, I see myself healthy, whole, strong. On 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:40.880 another channel, I see myself prosperous, blessed out of death. 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:44.559 On another channel, I see Victoria loving me with her 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:49.400 whole heart. On another channel, I see Victoria loving me 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:50.480 with her whole heart. 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:52.200 I got a bunch of those channels. 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:57.240 On another channel, I see my children doing amazing things, 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:02.120 fulfilling their purpose, leaving their mark. On another channel, I 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:06.040 see our ministry growing, helping more people. And another channel, 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:10.520 I see myself living into my nineties, healthy, strong, finishing 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:13.880 my course with joy. So when I switch on one 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:18.400 of those channels that showed me going downhill, losing my health, 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:23.000 family falling apart, business drying up, I'm smart enough to say, 0:12:23.440 --> 0:12:26.960 no thanks, I'm not watching that channel. I don't watch 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.080 the defeat channel. I don't watch the things are going 0:12:30.120 --> 0:12:34.079 downhill channel. I don't watch the bad memories channel. I 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.839 stay on the victory channel, the favor channel, the more 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:40.280 than enough channel, the overcoming channel. 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:41.640 In your mind. 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.840 When these negative imaginations come up, it's real simple. 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.480 Change the channel. Quit watching things that. 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:53.280 Are depressing you, making you worried, causing you to live 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:58.560 in fear, not pursue your dreams. Cast down those imaginations. 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:03.160 You control what plays in your mind. You can't stop 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.480 all the negative images from coming, but you can stop 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:10.160 them from staying. You have the remote control. Don't get 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.120 stuck on that one channel. There was a young lady 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:16.079 that came down for prayer. She and her husband wanted 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.520 to have a baby in They'd been trying for many 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.320 years with no success, and she'd gone through all the 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:25.920 fertility treatments. She said, Joel, I've been worried since I 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:29.040 was in my early teens that I wouldn't be able 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.679 to have a baby because my mother had a terrible 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:37.160 time getting pregnant with me. My grandmother had the same problem. 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:40.439 Other family members have struggled with infertility. 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.360 I always knew this was going to happen to me. 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:48.800 What you constantly dwell on is creating a picture in 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:53.480 your imagination. Many times, the enemy doesn't have to put 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:57.559 negative images in our mind. We're creating them with our 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:00.840 own thoughts. Now, I told her what I I'm telling you. 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:02.400 You have to change the channel. 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:07.520 Quit seeing yourself bearing not able to have a child, disappointed, 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:11.920 cast down that imagination. God says, the fruit of your 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:16.280 womb is blessed. He says, your seed will be mighty 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:16.880 in the land. 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:20.120 He said in Psalms, you will be the happy mother 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:20.960 of children. 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:27.000 That means that infertility is exalting itself above what God 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:30.120 says about you. You have to bring that down. She 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:34.040 changed the channel. She started seeing herself with a baby. 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:37.880 She switched off that station of all of her relatives, 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:42.840 bearing disappointed, She started seeing her and her husband playing 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:46.360 with this baby, having fun, going around as a family. 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.600 Three years later, she came back with a beautiful baby girl. 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:55.120 Medically speaking, she wasn't supposed to have a child, but 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:59.160 God has the final say. God controls the whole universe. 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:05.080 Are negative pictures keeping you from your dreams? Do you 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:10.920 see yourself overcoming that addiction, happily married, accomplishing what God 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:11.760 put in your heart? 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:14.160 Or you watching the wrong channel? 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.680 The scripture tells us in Timothy to have a disciplined mind. 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:23.080 You can't watch every imagination that comes up. Your mind 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:25.960 will naturally gravitate toward the negative. 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:27.600 If your business. 0:15:27.160 --> 0:15:30.480 Starts to slow down, don't be surprised if in your 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:34.880 imagination you Start seeing the creditors coming you see you 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:36.240 having to lay people off. 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:37.840 You see the doors closing. 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.800 If you're not disciplined and you let that play, you'll 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:43.600 go around worried, stressed out. 0:15:44.200 --> 0:15:45.000 What's the answer. 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:46.480 Change the channel. 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:50.880 You can create new pictures in your mind. Start seeing 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:55.360 your business taking of seeing new customers finding you, seeing 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:57.400 opportunities chasing you down. 0:15:57.920 --> 0:15:59.000 If you're struggling with an. 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:04.360 Illness like mom, those negative imaginations will come. You'll see 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.840 yourself going downhill, not able to go back to work. 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:12.600 Be disciplined in your thought life. When you're facing a 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.200 physical battle, you need all of your energy to go. 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:17.880 Toward you getting well. 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:23.520 When you're watching negative imaginations, that's taking your strength, draining 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:25.480 your energy, making you weaker. 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:27.480 Put up some new pictures. 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:33.240 Start seeing yourself strong and healthy. See yourself out exercising, 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:38.120 full of energy. See yourself living a long, blessed life. 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.520 If you'll use your imagination the right way, it will 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.400 help you stay hopeful and to believe that God can 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:48.040 turn it around. When God promised Abraham that he was 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:50.960 going to be the father of many nations, he was 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.360 in his eighties, too old to have a baby, and 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:58.440 God told him to go outside his tent, look up 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:02.280 into the nighttime sky, and as many stars as he 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:06.239 could see, that's how many descendants he would have. It 0:17:06.359 --> 0:17:09.560 wasn't a coincidence that God wanted him to have a 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:13.520 picture of it, something that he could see. God knew 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:18.359 these negative images would come. He knew Abraham would start 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:22.360 seeing himself as being too old, thinking about how impossible 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:22.840 it was. 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:25.919 So God gave him this picture, and. 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:29.320 Every time Abraham was tempted to get worried and talk 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:32.160 himself out of it, he would go out and look 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:36.520 up at the sky. He'd imagine how those stars represented 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.840 what God promised him. What's playing on the picture screen 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:44.520 of your mind? What God has spoken over you, How 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:49.200 you'll accomplish your dreams, break the addiction, see your health restored? 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:54.760 Or are you letting discouraging pictures play. If the only 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:58.359 images you're seeing are negative, it's going to limit you. 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:03.600 God wants to use your imagination to create fresh vision, 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.040 to make you hopeful, to help. 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:07.200 You stay filled with faith. 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:11.200 There was a gentleman diagnosed with cancer of the bladder. 0:18:11.800 --> 0:18:14.320 The doctors told him that it was inoperable. 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:16.600 He took chemotherapy, but it. 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:18.960 Didn't do any good, and all they could do was 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:21.880 give him some pain medicine and send him home. They 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:24.040 told him he had less than a year to live. 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:28.320 But instead of being depressed giving up on life, he 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:33.720 did something interesting. All through the day, he imagined armies 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:38.440 of healing white blood cells flowing through his body. He 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:42.480 pictured them coming down from his head, going through his veins, 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:47.440 into his organs, attacking those canterst cells. He said, these 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:50.520 images were as clear in my mind as if I 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:54.199 was watching them on television. Hundreds of times throughout the 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:59.200 day he saw life, healing, wholeness flowing back into him. 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:03.240 The whole time thanking God that he was restoring health, 0:19:03.440 --> 0:19:06.879 that he could do the impossible. He went back a 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.359 year later for a checkup. The doctor said, we can't 0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:13.159 explain it. We don't know how this has happened, but 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:16.480 we can't find any sign of cancer in your body. 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:21.000 You may be struggling with an illness. The medical report 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:25.720 doesn't look good. But instead of dwelling on these negative images, 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:30.520 why don't you start imagining right now these healing cells 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:31.640 flowing through you. 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:34.040 Picture these cells. 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.919 That are full of the life of the Most High God, 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:41.639 attacking and devouring every sick and disease cell in you 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:46.239 see yourself getting healthier, see yourself coming out of that 0:19:46.359 --> 0:19:47.000 sick bed. 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:49.600 Cancer is no match for our God. 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:52.240 What's trying to stop you is no match for the 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:56.159 creator of the universe. Keep the right pictures playing in 0:19:56.200 --> 0:20:00.560 your mind. Don't let your imagination be used worry you 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:04.040 to defeat you. Turn it around and use it to 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:08.960 encourage you, to strengthen you, to inspire you. God said 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:13.040 in Jeremiah, I have set you over the nations, to 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:14.920 rule over kingdoms. 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:19.320 To pull down and root out, to build and plant. 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:24.320 Notice the order before you can build and plant, before 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:27.440 the situation will turn around, before you see increase. 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:32.120 You have to pull down and root out, like Jeremiah. 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:35.320 God has a place of victory for you where you 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:38.800 will rule over everything that's holding you back. But you 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.800 have to first pull down these wrong imaginations. You have 0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:46.800 to root out any negative pictures. If you're going to 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:49.960 a job interview, don't imagine that you're not going to 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:53.120 get it. Don't imagine that they're not going to like you. 0:20:53.119 --> 0:20:56.879 You're defeating yourself before you get there. Pull down that 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:02.080 imagination and imagine them choosing you. Imagine you standing out 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:07.000 imagine you working there, excelling at that position. If you 0:21:07.119 --> 0:21:12.320 let these negative imaginations play, they'll cause you to be weak, timid, 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:13.760 feel unqualified. 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:17.560 Change the channel, Joel. What if I do that and 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:19.760 it doesn't work. What if you do it and it 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:20.359 does work. 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:23.320 If you do it and you don't get the position, 0:21:23.680 --> 0:21:26.399 that just means God has something better in store. 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:28.800 But if you're always letting these. 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:31.840 Negative images play, you will never know. 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:33.199 What you could have become. 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:36.840 If you feel a pain in your side, thoughts will 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:39.600 tell you, oh, man, that's serious. That's the same thing 0:21:39.640 --> 0:21:42.440 that took your uncle's life. He didn't make it that long. 0:21:42.560 --> 0:21:43.080 Neither will you. 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:47.200 If you're not disciplined in your mind, you'll get all paniced. 0:21:47.720 --> 0:21:50.920 You'll start thinking of all the worst case scenarios. By 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:53.240 the time you get home, you'll be writing out your will, 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:55.160 making your final arrangements. 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:58.159 All it was was you had too much pizza for lunch. 0:21:58.840 --> 0:22:00.440 You just needed some pepto 'bismo. 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:04.880 Even if it is something serious, what's going to help 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:07.600 you to stay in peace is to keep the right. 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:08.919 Images in your mind. 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:12.720 Most of the things that come against us are not 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:16.400 what we think they are. We let our imaginations run 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:21.120 wild and show us all the worst case possibilities. If 0:22:21.119 --> 0:22:24.480 you hear a siren at night your children are not home, 0:22:24.640 --> 0:22:25.480 thoughts will tell you. 0:22:25.480 --> 0:22:26.240 That's your child. 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:29.520 Your son's been in an accident. He's headed to the 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:32.400 hospital right now. You better get up, do something about it. 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:33.960 If you let that. 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:38.359 Plane before long, you'll see the ambulance, you'll see the accident, 0:22:38.600 --> 0:22:42.879 You'll see it all taking place. Those are wrong imaginations 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:47.400 that you have to cast down instead of believing those lies. 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:49.800 Worrying, imagining the worst. 0:22:50.080 --> 0:22:50.840 Turn it around. 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:54.200 Father, Thank you that my children are in the palm 0:22:54.240 --> 0:22:57.119 of your hand. Thank you that no weapon formed against 0:22:57.160 --> 0:23:00.439 them will prosper. Thank you that your angels will watching 0:23:00.440 --> 0:23:03.800 over them, keeping them from accident and harm. What am 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:07.960 I saying, Be disciplined in your mind. Don't let your 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:12.440 imagination run wild and show you all the negative possibilities. 0:23:13.560 --> 0:23:16.360 It was a twenty three year old young lady named Sarah. 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:18.800 She went to the grocery store to pick up a 0:23:18.880 --> 0:23:22.199 few items. When she got back in her car, she 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:25.560 heard a loud noise and felt something hit her in 0:23:25.640 --> 0:23:28.399 the back of the head. She thought she'd been shot. 0:23:29.119 --> 0:23:31.879 She reached up and felt what she thought were her 0:23:31.920 --> 0:23:33.400 brains coming out. 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:35.320 She initially passed out. 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:39.000 When she woke up, she sat in the car motionless 0:23:39.119 --> 0:23:42.040 for over an hour, holding the back of her head, 0:23:42.359 --> 0:23:45.440 trying to keep her brains in. A man walked by 0:23:45.480 --> 0:23:49.120 and noticed something was wrong called the police. The police 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:51.679 came and asked her to open the car door. She 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:54.679 said she couldn't, she had been shot and she was 0:23:54.720 --> 0:23:58.560 holding her brains in. The police broke open the back window. 0:23:59.000 --> 0:24:03.760 They discovered a can of Pillsbury biscuits had exploded. 0:24:04.280 --> 0:24:05.240 The doe had. 0:24:05.080 --> 0:24:07.360 Shot out and hit her in the back. 0:24:07.160 --> 0:24:07.639 Of the head. 0:24:08.760 --> 0:24:11.919 Maybe what you're imagining is not what you think it is. 0:24:12.760 --> 0:24:16.639 Maybe that's not your brains after all. Here's my point. 0:24:16.960 --> 0:24:21.680 Maybe you're not stuck. Maybe the addiction is not permanent. 0:24:22.480 --> 0:24:27.000 Maybe your health isn't going downhill. Maybe your dream is achievable. 0:24:27.560 --> 0:24:30.960 Perhaps all those pictures that have been playing in your 0:24:31.000 --> 0:24:35.760 imagination are not your true reality. Maybe they're just a 0:24:35.800 --> 0:24:38.720 bunch of dough trying to keep you from moving forward. 0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:42.160 Do yourself a favor, open up the car door, let 0:24:42.160 --> 0:24:43.680 go of your brains, and get going. 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:47.480 About a year after I began. 0:24:47.400 --> 0:24:51.119 Ministering, the church was really growing, and we decided to 0:24:51.200 --> 0:24:54.919 start a second Sunday morning service. I announced that on 0:24:54.960 --> 0:24:57.560 the first Sunday of the year two thousand, we were 0:24:57.560 --> 0:25:00.679 going to have this new early morning service. This was 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:03.840 in October, so I had several months to think about it. 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:08.639 During that time, all kinds of negative thoughts told me, Joel, 0:25:08.720 --> 0:25:12.000 this is a big mistake. Nobody's going to calme. You're 0:25:12.040 --> 0:25:14.720 going to look like a fool. I tried to stay 0:25:14.720 --> 0:25:17.760 in faith. But one night I had a dream. A 0:25:17.760 --> 0:25:21.640 better description was a nightmare. It was that first Sunday 0:25:21.680 --> 0:25:24.120 of our new service when I went out to minister 0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:28.399 not one person was in the auditorium, not Victoria, not 0:25:28.520 --> 0:25:32.040 my mother, not a musician, not an usher, nobody. I 0:25:32.160 --> 0:25:35.520 woke up in a cold sweat. Thoughts told me you 0:25:35.600 --> 0:25:38.720 better cancel it. There's still time to call it off. 0:25:38.920 --> 0:25:42.399 You can halfway save face. All through the day, that 0:25:42.640 --> 0:25:46.600 image of that empty auditorium would come up. I had 0:25:46.600 --> 0:25:48.160 to do what I'm asking you to do. 0:25:48.640 --> 0:25:49.600 Change the channel. 0:25:50.240 --> 0:25:52.800 Sometimes I'd change it and the same picture would be 0:25:52.880 --> 0:25:56.400 on the next station, kind of like watching the presidential debates. 0:25:56.400 --> 0:25:57.240 They are everywhere. 0:25:57.440 --> 0:25:59.640 I had to keep flipping and flipping till I. 0:25:59.600 --> 0:26:01.119 Found it's something encouraging. 0:26:01.800 --> 0:26:04.560 The week of that first service rolled around and I 0:26:04.640 --> 0:26:08.000 was talking to my mom. I kind of nonchalantly said, 0:26:08.320 --> 0:26:12.720 are you coming to the new service this Sunday? She 0:26:12.840 --> 0:26:15.040 looked at me puzzled and said, Joel, does it start 0:26:15.080 --> 0:26:18.639 this weekend? Thought, dear Lord, we've announced it four hundred 0:26:18.680 --> 0:26:19.880 and thirty seven times. 0:26:20.040 --> 0:26:21.359 My old mother's not coming. 0:26:22.600 --> 0:26:26.200 That dream might have been a prophecy, but I said, yes, 0:26:26.280 --> 0:26:27.440 it starts this weekend. 0:26:27.600 --> 0:26:28.399 You need to come. 0:26:28.840 --> 0:26:34.719 Bring all your friends, enemies, neighbors, cousins, relatives, ancestors. It 0:26:34.760 --> 0:26:38.800 wasn't easy, but I kept changing the channel. I made 0:26:38.880 --> 0:26:42.520 up my mind, I am not watching the empty auditorium channel. 0:26:43.080 --> 0:26:45.960 I'm not watching that nobody's coming channel. I'm going to 0:26:46.040 --> 0:26:49.960 stay on the victory channel. In my imagination, through my 0:26:50.080 --> 0:26:53.919 eyes of faith, I saw thousands of people coming on 0:26:54.000 --> 0:26:55.639 that first Sunday of two thousand. 0:26:55.800 --> 0:26:58.760 I was so nervous I left the house an hour early. 0:26:59.200 --> 0:27:01.920 When I pulled up to the property, one parking lot 0:27:02.040 --> 0:27:05.239 was already full. We had over six thousand people that 0:27:05.359 --> 0:27:07.159 day and they've been coming ever since. 0:27:08.359 --> 0:27:09.159 What am I saying? 0:27:09.880 --> 0:27:14.720 Cast down these wrong imaginations? They are not a reality. 0:27:15.240 --> 0:27:19.399 They are trying to deceive you into living worried, afraid, 0:27:19.800 --> 0:27:22.720 so you will give up on your dreams. Why is 0:27:22.760 --> 0:27:26.240 it that we let our imagination run wild only in 0:27:26.280 --> 0:27:30.040 the negative direction. We imagine the worst, Imagine what's not 0:27:30.119 --> 0:27:33.000 going to work out. Why don't you start letting your 0:27:33.040 --> 0:27:37.639 imagination run wild in the right direction. Imagine living a 0:27:37.720 --> 0:27:42.840 supersized life. Imagine accomplishing your dream. Imagine your children doing 0:27:42.920 --> 0:27:46.440 amazing things. Let's keep the right pictures in our minds. 0:27:46.880 --> 0:27:50.000 When those negative images come up, be quick. 0:27:49.800 --> 0:27:51.000 To change the channel. 0:27:51.200 --> 0:27:53.520 Remember they are not a reality. 0:27:54.040 --> 0:27:58.120 If you will protect your imagination, I believe and declare, 0:27:58.520 --> 0:28:01.800 like Abraham, God is going to bring promises to pass. 0:28:02.040 --> 0:28:06.160 You're going to overcome obstacles, accomplish your dreams, and reach 0:28:06.240 --> 0:28:07.960 the fullness of your destiny. 0:28:08.320 --> 0:28:11.280 In Jesus's name, if you receive it, can you say it? 0:28:11.359 --> 0:28:15.560 Man? Today, I'd like to give you an opportunity to 0:28:15.640 --> 0:28:18.560 make Jesus the lord of your life. Would you pray 0:28:18.640 --> 0:28:23.760 with me? Just say, Lord, Jesus, I repent of my sins. 0:28:24.880 --> 0:28:28.680 Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and savior. 0:28:30.280 --> 0:28:33.080 If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got 0:28:33.119 --> 0:28:36.640 born again. Get in a good Bible based church. Keep 0:28:36.680 --> 0:28:39.520 God first place. He's going to take your places that 0:28:39.560 --> 0:28:40.480 you've never dreamed. 0:28:41.080 --> 0:28:44.520 Thank you for listening to the Joel Oustine podcast. Help 0:28:44.600 --> 0:28:47.360 us continue to share the message of hope with those 0:28:47.440 --> 0:28:51.320 all over the world. Visit jolustein dot com slash give 0:28:51.440 --> 0:28:53.120 Hope to give a gift today. 0:28:54.400 --> 0:28:56.840 Thanks so much for listening to today's message. 0:28:56.960 --> 0:28:59.640 I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest 0:28:59.640 --> 0:29:02.840 PODCAS cast to keep you inspired all through the week. 0:29:03.040 --> 0:29:05.880 We're praying for you. I know God's best is still ahead. 0:29:06.120 --> 0:29:07.240 We'll see you next time. 0:29:14.160 --> 0:29:16.640 More than ever before, people are turning to the church 0:29:16.720 --> 0:29:20.440 for their mental health struggles. Unfortunately, the church has largely 0:29:20.520 --> 0:29:23.760 been ill equipped to health. That is until now. Join 0:29:23.840 --> 0:29:26.840 nearly fifty thousand people just like you who've enrolled in 0:29:26.920 --> 0:29:30.080 the Mental Health Coach training program and become equipped to 0:29:30.160 --> 0:29:32.960 health for a limited time. 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