Your Future Is Set

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See terms and conditions at UNEs dot co. 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.560 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.400 our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:40.840 If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:42.440 blessing and share it with a friend. 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:45.440 We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:48.720 your life. God bless you. It's great to be with 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:51.360 you today, and I hope you'll stay connected with us 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:55.120 during the week through our daily podcast, our YouTube channel, 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:58.440 social media, and you can come visit us in person. 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:00.440 We'd love to have you be a part of one 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:03.400 of our services. I'd like to talk with something funny. 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:05.920 And I heard about this young man and one day 0:02:05.920 --> 0:02:08.640 he was talking to God and he said, God, what's 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.840 a million years like to you? God said, a million 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:15.440 years to me is like one second to you. He said, well, God, 0:02:15.480 --> 0:02:18.520 what's a million dollars like to you? God said, a 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:21.040 million dollars to me is like one penny to you. 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:23.639 He thought about it in a moment, said God, will 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.080 you give me a penny? God said sure, just a second, 0:02:29.120 --> 0:02:31.960 saying like you mean it. This is my Bible. I 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.400 am what it says I am. I have what it 0:02:34.440 --> 0:02:36.840 says I have. I can do what it says I 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.000 can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:44.840 I boldly confess. My mind is alert, my heart is receptive. 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:48.720 I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:52.200 bless you. I want to talk to you today about 0:02:52.360 --> 0:02:56.440 your future is set, it's easy to worry about tomorrow 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:59.600 and how is everything going to work out? I'm concerned 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:03.000 about my children. I have this problem at work. The 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:07.240 uncertainty can bring anxiety where we live. Stressed and uptight, 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.919 we look at things on the short term. But God's 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.640 been working on you for generations. He didn't just start 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:18.320 when you got here, long before you were born. He 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:22.000 was lining up what you need, arranging things to fall 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:26.639 into place so you can fulfill your purpose. God told Abraham, 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:30.600 your children will be in Egypt for four hundred years, 0:03:31.040 --> 0:03:34.400 then I will bring them out with great abundance. God 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:38.360 had a four hundred year strategy. We're praying about tomorrow, 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:42.120 believing for this week, hoping for next month. God's way 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:45.320 ahead of you. He was thinking about you hundreds of 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:49.240 years ago, before your father and mother even knew each other. 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:54.480 God was working on your behalf generations back, bringing everything 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:59.640 into alignment, the right people, good breaks, solutions to problems, 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:04.400 for mistakes. It's already planned out. When the Israelites came 0:04:04.440 --> 0:04:08.720 out of slavery, loaded down with treasure, just like God promised, 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.760 it looked like that just suddenly happened. God just decided 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:16.240 to bless them. The truth is that blessing had been 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:20.279 lined up for four hundred years. God had planned to 0:04:20.440 --> 0:04:24.159 let Phedro capture them. He'd already planned they would go 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:28.120 through things that weren't fair, have to endure that suffering, 0:04:28.600 --> 0:04:31.520 but the plan didn't stop there. There was a plan 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.680 to bring them out, a plan to make the enemy pay, 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.000 a plan to turn around the injustice, a plan to 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:41.640 thrust them into their purpose. Yes, we all go through 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:46.159 disappointments and things we don't understand. We make mistakes and 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.560 bring trouble on ourselves and we don't see how we 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:53.279 could accomplish our dreams. Now we feel like we're in captivity. 0:04:53.520 --> 0:04:56.560 We've had these bad breaks. That's not the end of 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:02.000 the story. Like with the Israelites's back, God was working 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:06.240 on your behalf. That bad break can't stop you how 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:09.719 you were raised. Even the mistake you made that didn't 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:13.680 catch God off guard. He knew about it. He's already 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:16.960 taken it into account, and that's why we can stay 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:19.840 in peace. That's why we can sleep well at night. 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:22.920 You're not doing life on your own. You're a part 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:26.279 of a much bigger plan that God has purpose things 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:30.920 for you that he started generations ago. Now thoughts will whisper, 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:35.120 there's nothing special about you. You're not important. You're just 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:37.920 one of the seven billion people on the earth. No 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:41.440 God chose you to be here. He has an assignment 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.919 for your life. You need to feel this sense of destiny, 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:49.680 this sense of purpose. Your life matters. You are strategic. 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:54.440 There's something significant for you to accomplish. And at times 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:58.280 it'll feel like you stop. Obstacles too big, the sickness 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.799 too great, the pressure too much. You have to remind 0:06:01.880 --> 0:06:05.479 yourself that the creator of the universe is not only 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:09.120 with you right now, but he's been orchestrating things in 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:13.320 your favor for generations. God wouldn't have given you breath 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.440 to breathe if he didn't have an amazing future for you. 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:20.360 Sometimes you have to go through the pain to get 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.320 to the purpose, through the weeping, to get to the joy, 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.920 through the struggle to get to the abundance. You keep 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:30.040 being faithful, and you're going to see what God's been 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.520 working on for generations. You're going to come into houses 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:37.360 that you didn't build, vineyards that you didn't plan, promotion, 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:41.400 you didn't deserve mercy when you should have received judgment. 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:46.040 Think about Zachias. He was a tax collector, and they 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:49.040 were known for being dishonest and cheating people, and he 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:52.800 was the chief tax collector, the worst one. Everyone looked 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:56.000 down on him, saw him as a fraud. Seems like 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.360 God wouldn't have anything to do with him. Zakias, you're 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:03.600 making poor choices. If you live better, quit cheating everyone, 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:07.279 have a little integrity, then I'd help you. But God 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.720 doesn't judge the way we judge. We look at people 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:14.040 how they are, but God sees what they can become. 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:18.080 We see the dirt. God sees the treasure, We see 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:22.040 the mess. God sees the miracle. Jesus was passing through 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.960 the town, and when zachi has heard about it, something 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:29.080 came alive on the inside, this desire to see Jesus. 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:32.800 Even though Zachaius knew he was doing wrong, even though 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:36.239 he knew he was off course, God, in his great mercy, 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:40.400 begin to draw Zachius. He felt this longing, I've got 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:44.760 to see this man. God never writes anyone off. No 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:48.280 matter how many mistakes you've made, how many failures, how 0:07:48.320 --> 0:07:51.960 many times we've blown it. God is full of mercy. 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:55.040 He still has a purpose for your life. What I 0:07:55.080 --> 0:07:58.440 love about God is he never consult your past to 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:02.120 determine your future. What you've done in the past does 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:05.880 not stop what God has planned for you now. Sometimes 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:09.000 religion will try to beat you down, make you feel 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.120 like you're not worthy. The enemy is called the accuser. 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:14.960 He'll try to convince you that nothing good is in 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:18.679 your future. Don't believe those lies. God's calling is still 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.520 on your life. You can still become who you were 0:08:21.560 --> 0:08:26.320 created to be. When Zachius arrived, he was so crowded 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.960 and people had lined the street to see Jesus and 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:32.640 Zachias were short, well hundreds of people in front of him. 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:35.520 He could have gone back home, thought too bad, didn't 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:39.360 work out. But he looked over and saw this sycamore tree. 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:42.000 He had an idea. If I get up in that tree, 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:44.800 I'll be able to see Jesus. He went and climbed 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:48.360 the tree, grabbed this branch, another branch, crawled up higher, 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:52.120 then higher. Now he had a perfect view. He could 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:56.160 see everything so clearly. In a few moments, Jesus came 0:08:56.200 --> 0:09:00.160 walking by. This is what everyone was waiting for, tin 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:04.319 to get Jesus' attention, waving, shouting. Zach Kius was taking 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:08.600 it all in. About that time Jesus stopped. He turned 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.319 and looked up in the tree. I'm sure, zach he 0:09:11.400 --> 0:09:14.480 has nearly passed out. Now all the eyes were on him. 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:17.880 You could hear a pin drop, Zach He has thought, oh, man, great, 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:21.000 he's gonna let me have it. He knows I'm a sinner, 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.600 he knows a cheap people. He was feeling so guilty. 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.839 But Jesus said, zach Kius, come down out of that tree. 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.320 I want to go to your house and have dinner. 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:33.880 First thing zach he has thought, was how does he 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:37.040 know my name? I've never met him. I don't run 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:40.440 in his circles. I'm not a religious person. Can I 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.920 tell you God knows your name. You may have never 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.240 spoken to him, but he'll speak to you. He doesn't 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:51.440 hold your faults against you. He doesn't say, man, you 0:09:51.480 --> 0:09:54.080 hadn't performed well enough. I'm not gonna have anything to 0:09:54.120 --> 0:09:58.320 do with you. No, he's calling your name. What's significant 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:02.960 is the name Zachius, mean means pure one. Jesus could 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.880 have said, hey, mister up there in the tree, hey sir, 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:10.880 But on purpose he called his name, Hey, Zachius. He 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:14.640 was saying, hey, pure one. He was calling him not 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:18.800 who he was, but who he could become. The religious 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:22.040 leaders they were offended. They said, why would Jesus go 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:26.240 eat with such scum? Notice the people called him scum, 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:30.120 but Jesus called him pure one. Don't go by what 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:34.400 people call you, go by what God calls you. Zichius 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:36.960 came down out of the tree, went to dinner. That 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:40.600 was the turning point in his life. He repented. Repent 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:44.280 means to change your ways, quit being dishonest, He quit 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:48.559 cheating people, and started making decisions that honored God. But 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:52.400 none of this would have happened if Zachius hadn't climbed 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:56.400 that tree. There are sycamore trees that have lived over 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:01.240 two thousand years. Here's how strategic God is. Way before 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:04.640 Zachias was born, God knew I have to plant a 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:08.120 tree here because in a few hundred years a man's 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.720 gonna come along named Zachias. That's, of course that needs 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:15.160 my mercy. This tree is going to be necessary to 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:18.800 bring him into his purpose. That tree didn't happen overnight. 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:24.600 Generations back, God was thinking about Zychias. There are blessings 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:29.760 you're going to come into mercy, favor opportunity that God 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:33.600 has been working on for you for generations. You don't 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.600 have to worry about the right doors opening, the right 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:39.000 people showing up. How is it going to work out? 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:43.640 God has already planted your trees. He's already lined up 0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:47.120 what you need for your purpose. There may be things 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:51.280 that look impossible. How you could accomplish that dream, how 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:54.240 your child will get back on course, how you'll overcome 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:57.880 that heartache. God's already been working on it. You're going 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.280 to come into a tree something that you couldn't make happen. 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.560 It's the hand of God moving you into your purpose. 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:08.640 When you understand this, it takes the pressure off. You 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.360 can live in peace knowing that as long as you 0:12:11.440 --> 0:12:15.080 keep God first place, your future is said. God has 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:18.800 it all lined up. Back in the eighteen hundreds, a 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:22.480 seventeen year old girl was sent from Norway to America 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:26.079 by her family. They were very poor and could only 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.120 afford to send one person. They send her with high 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:32.000 hopes that she would somehow get a good education and 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:34.840 be able to support the family so they could all 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.400 come over. After the long boat ride, she got off 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:42.120 the bus downtown Chicago, and you can imagine how she felt. 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:45.400 Not able to speak the language. Why did I have 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:48.600 to leave my family? Now I'm here all alone? She 0:12:48.679 --> 0:12:51.839 had no money and no place to stay. She walked 0:12:51.840 --> 0:12:54.360 around the block and saw this home with a porch 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.480 light on, and knocked on the door. And asked if 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.560 she could stay for a night or two, and the 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:03.200 family graciously took her in the next day, she saw 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:06.520 this charity that took care of babies with no mothers. 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.520 She was so drawn to it she went in and 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:13.280 they hired her. She worked there for years and eventually 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.680 got married had a daughter. That daughter would come to 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.079 the charity and take care of the babies as well. 0:13:20.000 --> 0:13:23.439 Fast forward one hundred and fifty years. Friend of mine 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:27.920 pastors a successful church downtown Chicago, and they've been seeing 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.160 growth and favor and they needed a larger auditorium. He 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:36.400 didn't want to leave downtown, but finding property there seemed impossible. 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:40.080 Kept looking and looking. He finally found a one acre 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.760 tract of land right next to the United Center the 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:47.680 basketball arena. He inquired about it and things started falling 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:51.520 into place. The land is incredibly valuable, but he had 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:55.600 favor with the mayor city officials. Against all odds, they 0:13:55.679 --> 0:13:59.240 sold him the property to build a sanctuary, first new 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:03.000 church to be built in downtown Chicago in over fifty years. 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:06.959 He was so excited before he announced it to the church, 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:11.160 he wanted to take his grandmother by. When they pulled 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:15.280 up to the property, She started weeping and weeping. She said, 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:18.960 this is the same property where your great great grandmother 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:22.120 worked in the baby's home. This is where I came 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:26.080 as her granddaughter to take care of the children. That 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:30.080 seventeen year old girl from Norway. She wondered why she 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:32.840 had to come, why she had to leave her family. 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:36.200 It didn't make sense. But she was a tree. She 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:40.160 was fulfilling a divine purpose. Now, my friend stepped into 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:44.680 blessings that started four generations back, one hundred and fifty 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:49.280 years earlier. God was orchestrating things that would propel him 0:14:49.360 --> 0:14:52.520 into his purpose. You don't know what God is up to. 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:55.960 You don't know what you're about to step into, the 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:59.520 doors that will open, the opportunity that will come, the 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:03.960 favor that will find you. God's been working for generations 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:07.560 to move you into your purpose. You haven't seen, heard, 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:12.320 or imagined what He has in store. See, we think situationally. 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:16.160 I have this problem. This obstacle looks too big. How 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:20.120 could I ever get that property? But God thinks generationally. 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.400 He says, don't worry. Before you got here, I started 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.400 lining up good breaks that you could never make happen. 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:31.400 Before you were born. I was arranging things in your favor. 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.520 You don't have to worry about your future. Your future 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.760 is sad. Everything you need is already in motion, it's 0:15:39.800 --> 0:15:44.360 already strategically orchestrated. The good news is it's going to 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:48.520 be better than you thought, more rewarding, more fulfilling than 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:52.600 you can imagine. What's interesting is when they tore down 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.880 the Children's Home to build the United Center, they left 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:59.920 that one acre undeveloped. That doesn't make sense. Why would 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.040 when they used that land. They could have made the 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:06.200 building larger, built a pavilion, built a food court, They 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:09.760 could have sold it to retail restaurants, clubs. That land 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:13.680 is so valuable. But what God has for you is 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.400 not going to go to anyone else. What has your 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.200 name on it is going to come to you. That 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:23.960 means what hasn't worked out, what you didn't get, the 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:27.800 contract that didn't go through, that wasn't supposed to be yours. 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:31.880 If it didn't happen, God has something better. He hasn't 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.360 been working for generations to let you miss what was 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:40.040 supposed to be yours. He told Abraham, after four hundred years, 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:44.120 I'm going to bring your descendants out with great abundance. Well, 0:16:44.160 --> 0:16:48.240 his descendants were slaves. They had no money, no resources. 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.960 Nothing looked like they would leave with abundance. But on 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:54.880 their way out, God caused them to have favor with 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:59.000 their oppressors. They gave the Israelites their gold, their jewelry, 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:03.600 their clothing. Didn't make sense. You're giving us your valuables. 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:07.440 We're the slaves. God has some things in your future 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.040 that are not going to make sense, things that are 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:13.200 going to boggle your mind. He knows how to give 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.640 your property that seems impossible. He knows how to turn 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:20.119 that child around, how to restore your health, how to 0:17:20.160 --> 0:17:23.000 cause people to favor you at open doors that you 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.320 couldn't open. What I want us to see is He's 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:30.600 been working for generations, getting us ready for this moment. 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:35.080 You're going to come into some generational blessings, generational favor, 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:39.560 generational increase. It's the hand of God doing things you 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:43.040 never saw coming. When you know your future is set, 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:46.200 it's easy to stay in faith When you know that 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:51.280 God works generationally and not just situationally. Then you won't 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:56.040 get upset when things happen that you don't understand. Disappointments, 0:17:56.320 --> 0:18:00.200 closed doors like that young woman from Norway. You're a 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:04.040 part of the bigger plan. God is using you to 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:07.280 not only fulfill your purpose, but to bring about His 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:11.919 purpose in others. That's why you shouldn't fight everything you 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:16.040 don't like. Live upset over the betrayal, bitter over the 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:19.919 door that closed, frustrated because the dream hasn't come to pass. 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:24.080 God knows what he's doing. We're not going to understand 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:27.400 it all right now. We can only see a small 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:31.080 part of his plan. God's looking back four hundred years. 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:35.119 He's looking ahead four hundred years. You can be confident 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:38.800 that His plans for you are for good. They may 0:18:38.840 --> 0:18:41.359 not look good at the time, but if you'll stay 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:44.520 in faith, you'll see what God is up to. You'll 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:47.760 come into these moments of fever that catapults you ahead. 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:52.240 This is what happened with Ruth in the scripture. Life 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:56.200 was good. She was going along fine, then her husband 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:59.920 suddenly passed. She never dreamed she would become a wido 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:04.280 at a young age. You can imagine how heartbroken she was. 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:09.360 Sometimes life doesn't seem fair. If you'll keep moving forward, 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:13.120 God says he has beauty for those ashes. In these 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:17.160 difficult times. God is up to something. He's doing things 0:19:17.160 --> 0:19:21.160 that we can't see right now. Ruth's mother in law, Naomi, 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:24.120 was a widow as well, and now both of her 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:27.280 sons had died, she decided to move back to her 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:31.600 hometown of Bethlehem. She told Ruth and the other daughter 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:35.840 in law, Orpah, to go back to their hometowns Orpah left, 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:39.480 but Ruth said, no, Naomi, I'm going with you. You 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:42.280 a god will be my god. Your home will be 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:46.440 my home. Ruth was from Moab. She wasn't the same 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:51.120 nationality as Naomi or the same faith, but she wouldn't lead, Naomi, 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:54.840 the people that are supposed to stay with you you 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:58.000 won't be able to get rid of if they walked away. 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:01.480 They weren't supposed to stay. Quit trying to hold on 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:04.199 to people that don't want to be there. If you 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:07.720 needed them to fulfill your destiny, they couldn't have walked away. 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:13.320 You can imagine Ruth and Naomi traveling back to Bethlehem. 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:17.560 So discouraged, Naomi got bitter. She said, I went out 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:20.960 full with my husband and two sons. Now I'm coming 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:24.639 home empty. She was saying, this is not how I 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:27.080 thought things would turn out. This is not what I 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:30.800 had planned for my life, But all this time God 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:33.960 was up to something. She couldn't see it right then, 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.800 but God was positioning her in Ruth. He had to 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:41.320 get them back to Bethlehem. That's where Ruth would meet 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:45.200 a man named Boaz. He owned all the field, very influential, 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.959 very wealthy. This caused Naomi to come back to life. 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:54.120 Instead of sitting around bitter, she started giving Ruth relationship advice, 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:57.920 telling her how to get this man. Put on this perfume, 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:00.920 wear this dress when you see him, talk to him 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:03.600 less way, telling her how to flirt. Why was she 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:08.399 so passionate about helping Ruth win this man over. She 0:21:08.640 --> 0:21:11.480 wasn't just doing a girl thing. This was a part 0:21:11.600 --> 0:21:16.520 of God's divine plan. Ruth ended up marrying Boas. They 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:19.639 had a son named Obed. Obed had a son named Jesse. 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:23.919 Jesse had a son named David. Ruth became the great 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:28.600 great grandmother of David. Without Ruth, we wouldn't have David. 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:32.560 Without David, we wouldn't have Jesus. He came through the 0:21:32.560 --> 0:21:38.520 lineage of David. The loss, the disappointment, the setback, it 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:42.400 was all a set up. Ruth had to get to Bethlehem. 0:21:42.920 --> 0:21:45.320 She had to meet Bo as she had to give 0:21:45.359 --> 0:21:50.440 birth to Obaed. God was working generationally. Sometimes we can't 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:53.680 see it doesn't seem fair. Why did I go through 0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:56.879 this loss? Why did this door close? Why did this 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:01.040 person walk away? We get discouraged when we only look 0:22:01.040 --> 0:22:05.480 at things situationally, when we isolate it by itself, it's 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:09.439 not fair. But when we understand that God works generationally, 0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:14.600 at times we step into generational blessings. We see things 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:18.800 that started long before us that catapault us into our destiny. 0:22:19.600 --> 0:22:23.159 Other times, God is positioning us for other people to 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:27.200 be blessed. But you have to know your life matters. 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:30.760 You are important to God. He thought you are so 0:22:31.000 --> 0:22:34.160 valuable that he took time to plan all of your 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:38.280 days before you were born. You have a divine assignment. 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:42.320 The scripture says he's working all things according to the 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:47.240 counsel of his will. That means he has the final say. 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:50.879 He said his plans for you are for good. He 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:55.160 said he will do exceedingly, abundantly above all you can imagine. 0:22:55.520 --> 0:22:59.160 Now keep in first place, Keep honoring him with your life. 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:03.480 Eight thing. When it's hard, don't try to figure everything out. 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:07.600 He's doing things that you can't understand right now. It 0:23:07.640 --> 0:23:11.120 won't make sense. If you have to know everything, you're 0:23:11.160 --> 0:23:14.680 going to be frustrated. Leave it in God's hands. God, 0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:17.000 I don't know what you're doing, but I trust you. 0:23:17.400 --> 0:23:20.280 I know you're in control, that you're moving me in 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:23.920 to my divine purpose. There was a family that did 0:23:24.040 --> 0:23:28.000 missionary work in Mexico back in the nineteen fifties, and 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:30.720 they had young children that would go around with them 0:23:30.800 --> 0:23:35.240 singing and ministering. These children were very talented, great musicians. 0:23:35.880 --> 0:23:39.119 One of the sons, in his teens, left the church 0:23:39.400 --> 0:23:43.480 and started singing in clubs and bars. Struggled with addictions, 0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:46.520 knew his off course. He could feel the call of 0:23:46.520 --> 0:23:49.840 God on his life, but he kept being pulled away. 0:23:50.200 --> 0:23:52.760 My mother would see his name up on the Marquees 0:23:53.359 --> 0:23:57.400 Bill Nash in concert. She knew his background, how his 0:23:57.440 --> 0:24:00.640 family were missionaries, and so she would always pray for him. 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:03.679 She never met him, didn't know the family, but for 0:24:03.800 --> 0:24:06.520 years she had this burden. God, bring him back to church, 0:24:06.880 --> 0:24:10.520 let him shine for you. Years later, he was at 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:14.280 a very low point, so distraught, he decided to get 0:24:14.280 --> 0:24:17.159 his life turned around. Wanted to go to church, but 0:24:17.640 --> 0:24:21.360 he thought, nobody want me. I've made mistakes, I've lived 0:24:21.400 --> 0:24:24.879 a rough life. I don't fit in the church. Turned 0:24:24.920 --> 0:24:27.960 on the television and there was my father talking about 0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:31.119 the mercy of God, how you're never too far gone, 0:24:31.440 --> 0:24:34.879 how God is always standing with arms open wide, ready 0:24:34.880 --> 0:24:39.280 to receive you back. That Sunday, he walked into Lakewood, 0:24:39.720 --> 0:24:43.760 first time he'd been to church in years. Someone recognized 0:24:43.840 --> 0:24:45.720 him in the very back and took him down to 0:24:45.760 --> 0:24:48.800 see my mother and she told how she'd been praying 0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:51.800 for him all those years. Big tears were running down 0:24:51.800 --> 0:24:55.040 his cheeks. That day was a turning point. A few 0:24:55.040 --> 0:24:59.080 months later, Bill gave his first Christian concert at Lakewood. 0:25:00.119 --> 0:25:03.520 Well fast forward ten years. I was in the front 0:25:03.560 --> 0:25:06.800 lobby of the old church. The service was about to begin. 0:25:07.240 --> 0:25:09.679 My father was the pastor, and I was running up 0:25:09.720 --> 0:25:12.520 the stairs to the television area. They're open to the 0:25:12.560 --> 0:25:15.119 lobby you can see out, and Bill came around the 0:25:15.160 --> 0:25:18.399 corner at just the right time said, Hey, Joel, my 0:25:18.560 --> 0:25:22.200 cousin has a construction permit for the last full power 0:25:22.320 --> 0:25:25.000 television station in Houston. He would like you to be 0:25:25.119 --> 0:25:28.200 a part of it. We ended up purchasing the permit, 0:25:28.600 --> 0:25:31.439 putting the station on the air. I thought that's what 0:25:31.480 --> 0:25:33.680 I'd do the rest of my life, be in production, 0:25:34.080 --> 0:25:38.439 run the station. Eighteen months later, my father suddenly passed 0:25:38.480 --> 0:25:41.600 and I became the pastor. Three years after that, we 0:25:41.640 --> 0:25:44.680 got the Compact Center. We took out one hundred million 0:25:44.720 --> 0:25:48.360 dollar loan to renovate this place. We had a balloon 0:25:48.480 --> 0:25:52.040 payment due before we could move in. We'd been raising 0:25:52.040 --> 0:25:54.520 the money, doing our best, but we weren't going to 0:25:54.560 --> 0:25:58.639 make it. We were significantly short. We decided to sell 0:25:58.680 --> 0:26:03.399 the station's old in sixty days for fifty percent more 0:26:03.720 --> 0:26:06.479 than the leading experts told us we could get. It 0:26:06.560 --> 0:26:09.840 was those funds that allowed us to move into this building. 0:26:10.560 --> 0:26:14.720 Now look at how God was working. Sixty years earlier, 0:26:15.119 --> 0:26:17.840 a little boy was singing in a church in Mexico. 0:26:18.600 --> 0:26:21.440 I'm sure his family thought, God, we raised him right. 0:26:21.960 --> 0:26:24.080 Why did he get off course? Why is he not 0:26:24.200 --> 0:26:28.040 making good decisions? But God knows how to use everything, 0:26:28.720 --> 0:26:32.399 even things we don't understand. Had he not gotten off course, 0:26:32.840 --> 0:26:35.280 he wouldn't have seen my father. He wouldn't have ended 0:26:35.320 --> 0:26:38.120 up at Lakewood. I wouldn't have met him in the lobby. 0:26:38.680 --> 0:26:41.639 We would have never purchased the station. We wouldn't have 0:26:41.640 --> 0:26:45.520 the funds for this place. God is doing things that 0:26:45.600 --> 0:26:49.359 you can't see right now. We're looking at it situationally. 0:26:49.680 --> 0:26:53.000 He's working generationally. He can see the big picture. 0:26:53.640 --> 0:26:53.800 Now. 0:26:53.800 --> 0:26:56.920 There may be things that don't make sense to you. 0:26:56.920 --> 0:27:00.000 You did the right thing and the wrong thing happened. God, 0:27:00.000 --> 0:27:03.359 God is still in control. Don't judge your life by 0:27:03.400 --> 0:27:07.040 one season. Let it unfold. You're going to see the 0:27:07.119 --> 0:27:10.679 hand of God doing things you didn't see coming. I 0:27:10.720 --> 0:27:13.680 didn't see that station coming, but God put it in 0:27:13.680 --> 0:27:17.639 motion seventy years before I got here. He was working 0:27:17.720 --> 0:27:21.520 on my behalf, orchestrating things in my future before I 0:27:21.640 --> 0:27:24.760 was born. You don't know what God is up to. 0:27:25.480 --> 0:27:28.680 It looks like a setback, but really it's setting you up. 0:27:29.080 --> 0:27:33.679 It's positioning you for new levels of your destiny. David 0:27:33.720 --> 0:27:37.320 said in Psalm thirty one, God, I trust you. My 0:27:37.480 --> 0:27:42.000 future is in your hands. Quit worrying about tomorrow. Your 0:27:42.040 --> 0:27:45.840 future is in God's hands. It's already been said. What 0:27:46.000 --> 0:27:49.359 God has purpose will come to pass. It's already lined 0:27:49.440 --> 0:27:53.359 up your good breaks, the right people, solutions to problems. 0:27:53.720 --> 0:27:57.200 What you're worried about, He's already worked out to part 0:27:57.240 --> 0:28:00.240 of his divine plan. Why don't you come back to 0:28:00.280 --> 0:28:03.280 a place of peace, a place of faith. He didn't 0:28:03.280 --> 0:28:05.840 bring you this far to leave you. What he started 0:28:06.000 --> 0:28:09.320 He's going to finish now. I believe in declare like 0:28:09.440 --> 0:28:12.040 zach Kias, you're going to come into some of these trees, 0:28:12.560 --> 0:28:16.320 generational blessings, things God has been working on before you 0:28:16.440 --> 0:28:20.280 got here. Doors opening you couldn't open the right people 0:28:20.359 --> 0:28:25.000 finding you negative situations, turning around the fullness of your 0:28:25.080 --> 0:28:29.000 destiny in Jesus' name, if you receive it, Can you 0:28:29.040 --> 0:28:33.679 say amen? I'd like to give you an opportunity to 0:28:33.760 --> 0:28:36.800 make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray 0:28:36.840 --> 0:28:41.520 with me? Just say, Lord, Jesus, I repent of my sins. 0:28:42.280 --> 0:28:46.000 Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and savior. 0:28:46.760 --> 0:28:49.120 If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got 0:28:49.120 --> 0:28:52.240 born again. We'd love to send you some free information 0:28:52.480 --> 0:28:54.680 on your new walk with the Lord. You can text 0:28:54.680 --> 0:28:57.240 the number on the screen or go to the website. 0:28:57.480 --> 0:29:00.280 But I hope you'll get into a good Bible based church, 0:29:00.560 --> 0:29:04.200 Keep God first place. Thanks so much for listening to 0:29:04.200 --> 0:29:07.600 today's message. I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive 0:29:07.680 --> 0:29:11.120 the latest podcast to keep you encouraged and inspired all 0:29:11.200 --> 0:29:11.720 through the week. 0:29:11.880 --> 0:29:14.120 Help us to continue to share the message of hope 0:29:14.120 --> 0:29:17.600 with those all around the world. Visit Joelosting dot com 0:29:17.680 --> 0:29:20.320 or click the link in the description to partner with 0:29:20.400 --> 0:29:20.880 us today. 0:29:21.160 --> 0:29:23.640 We hope you'll share this message with a friend and 0:29:23.680 --> 0:29:26.520 be sure to follow us on social media. We're praying 0:29:26.560 --> 0:29:29.680 for you. I know God's best is still ahead. We'll 0:29:29.680 --> 0:29:30.520 see you next time. 0:29:32.560 --> 0:29:35.040 More than ever before, people are turning to the church 0:29:35.120 --> 0:29:38.840 for their mental health struggles. Unfortunately, the church has largely 0:29:38.880 --> 0:29:42.160 been ill equipped to help. 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