Your Wings Are Coming

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See terms and conditions at 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:30.080 UNEs dot co. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:32.800 We're so glad to have you with us on the 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:36.480 podcast today. Twenty nineteen is going to be an awesome 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.560 year in your life. When you're finished listening, I hope 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.200 you'll take a minute and write a quick review. Your 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:45.840 encouragement will help others to be inspired and encouraged. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:02:05.359 Enjoy the message now. 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.480 Oh God bless you. It's a joy to come into 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:04.320 your homes and if you're ever in our area, please 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:07.160 stop by and be a part of one of our services. 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:09.920 I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.040 I like to start with something funny. And I heard 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:16.400 about this lady every day she saw this little old 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:20.440 man sitting on his front porch, rocking in his rocking chair. 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:23.720 He always seemed to be so happy. One day, she 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.560 got in her nerve up and went over to him, said, sir, 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:30.520 I can't help but notice you're always smiling, always in 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.919 a good mood. Please tell me what is your secret 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:37.680 for such a long happy life? He said, that's easy. 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.120 I smoked three packs of cigarettes a day. I eat 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:44.840 nothing but junk food, and I never exercised. She said, 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:48.320 that's amazing. How old are you he said, twenty six. 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:53.440 Don't live like that. Here we go. This is my Bible. 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:56.320 I am what it says I am. I have what 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.880 it says I have. I can do what it says 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:01.480 I can do to they. I will be taught the 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:05.560 word of God. I boldly confess. My mind is alert, 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:09.000 my heart is receptive. I will never be the same. 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:13.720 In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want to talk 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:17.520 to you today about your wings are coming. We all 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:21.280 face situations that look like they'll never change in our 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:25.119 career seems like we've reached our limits. We have much 0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:28.720 bigger things in our heart. We know what God has promised, 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:32.120 but when we look at the circumstances, it says we're stuck. 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.200 When we look at the medical report, look at the 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:39.280 bank account, there's no sign of things improving. But the 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:43.800 scripture says the things we see are temporary, but the 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:48.120 things we can't see are eternal. Don't be discouraged by 0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:52.360 what you see. It's not permanent. One translation says, the 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:56.800 things we see are subject to change. Your child may 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.560 be off course, but he's subject to change. Your health 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:04.200 may not look good. It's subject to change. Your dream 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:08.680 may seem impossible. That's subject to change. When thoughts tell 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.080 you that it's permanent, you'll never get well, never meet 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.960 the right person. Instead of being discouraged, turn it around. 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.800 Yes it may look that way, but I know a secret. 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:23.600 It is subject to change. You can't be moved by 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.080 what you see. You have to be moved by what 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:29.880 you know. God is on the throne, He's working behind 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:33.760 the scenes. What he promised is on the way. When 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:38.080 a caterpillar is crawling on the ground, barely moving, I 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:41.960 can imagine he looks up and sees a beautiful butterfly 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.880 flying through the air. The more he watches, the more 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:49.559 depressed he gets. Think it is not fair. Why can't 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:53.760 I fly? I'll always be grounded. When he looks at 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:58.039 his circumstances, there's nothing about them that says he will 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.880 ever fly, no sign of him ever getting off the ground. 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:05.800 If an expert examined him, he would give him no 0:05:06.040 --> 0:05:09.680 chance of taking flight. He has no wings. If you 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:13.080 put him up next to a dozen other worms, none 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.880 of them have ever flown. But there's something different about 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:21.440 the caterpillar. In its DNA, It's been programmed at a 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:26.480 certain time to develop wings. Even though it seems impossible, 0:05:27.080 --> 0:05:30.200 even though every thought says it will never fly. One 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:34.720 day it does the impossible. It transforms into a beautiful 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:39.279 butterfly that can soar through the air. All that time 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:42.640 he thought he was stuck on the ground, he didn't 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:48.680 realize it wasn't permanent. His wings were coming like that caterpillar. 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:53.240 All your circumstances may say you'll never fly. You don't 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:57.360 have the training, the experience. You come from the wrong family. 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:02.000 Thoughts will tell you you'll always be grounded. You'll always 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.880 struggle in your finances. Always be addicted. No, get ready, 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:10.400 your wings are coming. Where you are is not permanent. 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.240 God did not create you to crawl, to go through 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:18.960 life lonely, addicted, struggling. He didn't make you in his 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:23.120 own image, breathe life into you, crown you with fever 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:27.360 so you could barely get by. He created you to soar, 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:32.760 to take new ground, to go further than you thought possible. Now, 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:36.640 quit being discouraged by what you see. What you see 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:39.760 is subject to change. You don't know what God is 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:43.120 up to. You don't know what he's doing behind the scenes. 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:47.080 But it would be different if a caterpillar was born 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:51.160 with wings that didn't work, and eventually they were activated. 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.560 Be much easier to believe that it could fly if 0:06:54.560 --> 0:06:58.279 the wings were already in place. But I believe one 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:02.839 reason God made the cat pillar a worm without wings 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:06.440 that crawls on the ground. That's the least likely one 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:10.840 to fly. What's to encourage us that when it seems 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.920 the least likely for you to fly, when circumstances say 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:18.520 there's no way you'll get wend, no way you'll accomplish 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:22.800 your dream, you can remember the caterpillar if it went 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:26.360 from being grounded with no wings to be in a 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:30.679 beautiful butterfly that can soar through the air. Then God 0:07:30.760 --> 0:07:35.040 can change what looks impossible to you. Now you may 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:39.960 be in the caterpillar stage, not making much progress. Things 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:44.400 don't look promising. God is saying, don't worry. Your wings 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:48.560 are coming, your healing is coming, your promotion is coming, 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:53.200 your breakthrough is coming. You're not going to just get ahead. 0:07:53.560 --> 0:07:55.680 You're not going to just have a little bump. You're 0:07:55.720 --> 0:08:01.200 going to see supernatural opportunities, supernatural increase, things that you 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:06.400 couldn't make happen. When a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:11.160 gets its wings, it doesn't just have the ability to 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:15.840 crawl faster just be better at what it could already do. 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:20.720 It comes into a whole new dimension from crawling to flying. 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.280 When you get your wings, you're not going to just 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:27.400 be better at what you can do right now. God 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:31.040 is going to catapult you into a new dimension, into 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:35.640 favor that you haven't seen acceleration. Things are going to 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.000 happen sooner than you thought. Should have taken you thirty 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:42.600 years to work your way into management, but suddenly you 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:46.520 were promoted. What happened You got your wings. Should have 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:49.480 taken you a lifetime to pay your house off, but 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.320 you did it in a fraction of the time. What 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:56.400 happened You went from crawling to flying. You got your wings. 0:08:56.679 --> 0:09:00.840 That's the hand of God thrusting you ahead. That's what 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.839 happened to us here at Lakewood. We were doing great 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:08.319 at the other location, we were blessed growing, but when 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:12.679 we moved into the Compact Center, things exploded. We didn't 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:14.760 just go to a new level, we went to a 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.320 new dimension. We got our wings. This put us fifty 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:22.120 years down the road. What am I saying? Your idea 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:26.319 of flying and God's idea of flying are totally different. 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:29.840 You think you're doing good, wait till you get your wings. 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:35.000 You haven't seen, heard, or imagined what God has in store. 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:38.760 He's going to open doors you never dreamed would open. 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:44.000 He's going to bring strategic people, divine connections that will 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.160 use their influence to push you ahead. You're going to 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:51.600 discover gifts, talents, creativity that you didn't know you had. 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.520 Where you think, where did this come from? You got 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:58.160 your wings. That's God taking your places that you could 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:01.960 never go on your own. In One Kings, chapter eighteen, 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:06.000 the people of Sameriam were in a great drought, hadn't 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:09.400 rained for three years, crops had dried up, people were 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:13.520 barely making it. The prophet Elijah showed up and said 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:17.559 to King Ahab, I hear the sound of the abundance 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:21.560 of rain. When he said that, there wasn't a cloud 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:25.600 in the sky, there was no sign of rain. Yet 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:28.920 he chose to believe what he heard in his spirit 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:34.000 over what he saw with his eyes. He saw drought, famine, 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:38.040 crops dried up, but he heard an abundance of rain. 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:42.760 Are you believing what you're seeing or what you're hearing? 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:48.160 What you see maybe lack struggle, caterpillar on the ground, 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:54.240 But what God is speaking to your spirit is abundance, healing, breakthroughs, 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:58.520 new levels. What you're hearing is more powerful than what 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:02.640 you're seeing. What you see is temporary, what you hear 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:06.280 is eternal. But if you stay focused on the drought 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.480 and how big the problem is, how it's never going 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:14.320 to change, that's going to keep you in a caterpillar mode. 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:18.520 The scripture says we are transformed by the renewing of 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:23.600 our mind. That word transformed is the same word used 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:28.720 for when a caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly. You have 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:32.280 to get your mind going in the right direction. You 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:36.959 can't think caterpillar thoughts and live a butterfly life. If 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:40.080 you think, Joel, I'll never get well. I can't get ahead. 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:43.880 I've reached my limits. Your own thinking will keep your 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:48.760 wings from developing. You have to do like Elijah. Everywhere 0:11:48.800 --> 0:11:53.240 he looked he saw drought, but in his spirit he 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:58.320 heard abundance. He chose to believe what God said over 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:02.120 what he saw. He went on top of Mount Carmel 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:05.520 to pray. He told his assistant to go look on 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:08.319 the other side of the mountain to see if there 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:11.560 was any sign of rain. The young man went out, 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:15.079 came back said, no, there's not a cloud in the sky. 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:19.600 Elijah could have been discouraged, thought I must have heard 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:23.640 God wrong. But he understood this principle that what he 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:28.360 saw was subject to change, and instead of accepting that 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:31.160 it was never going to happen, he told the young 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:36.160 man to go back and look again and again and again. 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:40.040 It takes faith to keep looking. You have to be 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:45.600 more confident in what God said than in what you see. 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:49.040 What you see may be a caterpillar, no chance it 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:52.640 could fly, you'd be wasting your time thinking that worm 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:56.240 could get off the ground. For some people that would 0:12:56.280 --> 0:13:00.480 seem foolish. But faith is not always going to make sense. 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:05.359 What God promises you is not always going to be logical. 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.800 There will be a battle taking place in your mind 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.360 between what you see and what you hear. I hear 0:13:13.520 --> 0:13:17.760 I'm a butterfly, I'm created to soar. I'm destined to 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.800 do great things. Then that other voice will wear your wings. 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:24.640 How come you're still on the ground. How come it's 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:29.000 taken so long? You're right where Elijah was. God, you 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:33.400 said an abundance of rain, But I don't see a 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:37.400 cloud in the sky. God, if it's you, at least 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.400 give me some drizzle. At least let the weather man 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:44.320 say ten percent chance of rain. Sometimes there will be 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.720 no sign that is going to happen. That's when you 0:13:47.800 --> 0:13:51.000 have to dig down deep and say, God, my mind 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:55.080 says I'm crazy. People say I'm far out, but I 0:13:55.160 --> 0:14:00.439 still believe what you promised is on the way. Said 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.800 you would restore health back into me. I don't see 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:06.959 any sign of it, but I choose to believe healing 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:10.680 is coming. God. You said, as for me and my house, 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.880 we will serve the Lord. My child is off course, 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:16.480 but I'm not moved by what I see. I know 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:20.600 you have the final saying. God, you said I would 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:24.440 leave an inheritance to my children's children. I don't see 0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:27.880 how it can happen. God, I'm struggling to make ends meet, 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:31.600 but I believe my wings are coming. In my spirit. 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:35.400 I hear abundance, I hear increase. I hear lynd and 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:40.200 not borrow. The seventh time the young man came back. 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:44.200 He said to Elijah, this time I saw a small 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.840 cloud in the sky, about the size of a man's hand. 0:14:48.480 --> 0:14:51.800 Elijah sent word to Ahab, said you better take off 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:54.359 to the next city. There's about to be a downpour. 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:59.120 All he saw was a small cloud. But Elijah was 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.840 so full of faith, so full of expectancy, he knew 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.120 that little cloud was about to turn into big rain. 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:09.680 It wasn't long before the three year drought came to 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:15.080 an end. What you see may seem small compared to 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:19.160 what God promised you. It's easy to dismiss it, think 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:22.040 that it's nothing. But God knows how to take a 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:26.080 small cloud and bring a big blessing. He knows how 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:29.760 to take something that looks insignificant and calls it to 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:34.840 multiply and turn into something amazing. But I wonder if 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.920 Elijah would have ever seen the rain, if he had 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:41.400 not kept looking, if he would have gotten discouraged after 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:44.760 the second time, or the fifth time, or the sixth time, 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:49.200 maybe the cloud would have never formed. Maybe God was 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:53.720 seeing how bad he wanted it. Maybe the clear skies 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:58.600 and no clouds were all a test God wanted to know, Elijah, 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:02.040 are you going to believe what I'm saying over what 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.000 you're seeing. Are you going to believe your wings are 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.760 still coming while you're crawling on the ground while there's 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:12.040 no sign of it, or you're going to let circumstances 0:16:12.200 --> 0:16:15.720 talk you out of it. Part of this test is 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:20.200 sometimes the situation will get worse before it gets better. 0:16:21.240 --> 0:16:24.800 Elijah was doing all the right things in the face 0:16:24.840 --> 0:16:28.520 of the drought, the odds against him. He declared the 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.280 ahab what God promised, the abundance of rain was coming. 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.800 He went on the mountain and prayed. He thanks God 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:40.320 in advance. He looked for it, but nothing changed, no clouds, 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:44.440 no rain. Here. He was doing everything he was supposed 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:48.280 to be doing, but the drought got worse. If you 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:52.600 will pass this test of things getting worse while you're 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.600 doing the right thing, that like him, you will come 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:59.560 into abundance. You will see what God promised. The getting 0:16:59.600 --> 0:17:03.720 worse is a sign that the breakthrough is coming. Even 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.840 with the caterpillar, before it gets its wings, the caterpillar 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:12.960 goes into a cocoon. That's where it transforms. In the cocoon, 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:18.000 it's dark, it's uncomfortable. He can't move. At least when 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:21.760 he was a caterpillar, he could crawl around, couldn't go fast, 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:26.240 but he could move. Now he's totally restricted. I'm sure 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:30.359 he thinks, what's happening to me? I was believing for wings. 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:34.480 I was hoping to fly. Now I have no mobility. 0:17:34.680 --> 0:17:38.520 It's worse than ever. But in a little while, after 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:43.479 that dark season, after that uncomfortable time, he comes out 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:47.000 of the cocoon, not the same, but with its wings. 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:51.439 Now it's a butterfly. Now you may be in the 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:55.840 cocoon today you feel like you're going backwards. You're believing 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.960 to get better, to take new ground, but it's gone 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:02.159 the other way. It's all a part of the process. 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:05.800 That's a sign that your wings are coming. That's a 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:10.280 sign that the clouds are starting to form. Don't get discouraged. 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:13.000 You're about to come in to who you were created 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:17.680 to be. That time in the cocoon, that uncomfortable season, 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:20.840 when you were doing the right thing and the wrong 0:18:20.880 --> 0:18:25.280 thing was happening. It wasn't a mistake, it wasn't bad luck. 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:28.639 It was a test. God has you in the palm 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:33.000 of his hand. Nothing can happen without his permission. And 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.679 because you stayed in faith, because you kept looking for 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:41.240 the cloud, because you kept declaring, abundance is coming, You're 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:45.120 going to come out with your wings. No more crawling, 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:53.920 no more barely getting by, living mediocre, struggling with addictions, depression, dysfunction. 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:57.439 This is a new day. If the enemy would have 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.960 known what was going to happen, he would have left 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:04.679 you alone. He took you into that difficulty thinking he 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:08.000 was going to stop you. He didn't realize it was 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:12.560 the cocoon. God was using it to transform you. He 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:16.240 meant it for harm. God turned it to your advantage. 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:19.720 You came out with your wings. Now you can soar, 0:19:20.280 --> 0:19:23.719 Now you can take new ground. Now, abundance is in 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:27.720 your future. December of two thousand and two, the Houston 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.320 City Council voted for us to have the Compact Center. 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:34.399 We were so excited. We had worked a year and 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:37.440 a half trying to convince the council members this was 0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:40.520 a dream come true. A few weeks later, I was 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:44.199 in another city. My brother in law, Kevin, called and 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:47.399 said the company that owns all the property around the 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:51.680 Compact Center had just filed a federal lawsuit to try 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.400 to keep us from moving in. They said we would 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:58.359 violate the deed restrictions. They were a huge company, one 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:01.800 of the biggest taxpayers in Texas. We met with our 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:06.400 attorneys and they weren't very encouraging. They said we might 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:10.760 possibly win the lawsuit, but even if we did, it 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.280 could be tied up in the courts for ten years. 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:17.560 Month after month went by, nothing was happening. They weren't 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:20.800 going to budge. I had to do what I'm asking 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.760 you to do. I said, God, I'm not going to 0:20:23.840 --> 0:20:26.920 be moved by what I see. What I see is 0:20:27.000 --> 0:20:30.680 a stalemate, what I see is Goliath. What I see 0:20:30.760 --> 0:20:34.639 is a lengthy legal battle. It looked like we could 0:20:34.680 --> 0:20:39.000 always be grounded, like that setback would be permanent. But 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:42.800 I knew this secret it was subject to change. That 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:46.520 people don't have the final say. God has the final say. 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:50.840 Instead of talking about how bad it was, how it 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:54.320 would never work out, I'd go around saying, Father, thank 0:20:54.359 --> 0:20:57.240 you that you being for us is more than the 0:20:57.280 --> 0:21:00.680 world being against us. Thank you that you are fighting battles. 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:06.320 About eight months in we received word that the CEO 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:09.880 of this large company wanted to fly down and meet 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.879 with us. Our attorneys told us not to get our 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:16.800 hopes up, that it was probably a ploy, a negotiating 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:20.600 tactic to try to pressure us and intimidate us. They 0:21:20.720 --> 0:21:24.119 expected the worst, but deep down I believed it was 0:21:24.160 --> 0:21:27.199 the hand of God. We had had no contact with 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:31.160 them except through the courts. The CEO walked in the room. 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:34.240 The first thing he said was, Joel, I watch you 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:38.639 every week on television, and my son in law is 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:42.040 a youth pastor. God knows how to put the right 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:45.200 people in your path. By the end of that day, 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:49.800 they had not only agreed to drop the lawsuit and 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.720 let us have the building, but to lease us eight 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:57.720 thousand covered parking spaces that surround this building. We thought 0:21:57.760 --> 0:22:01.359 we were stuck, but we got our weeding. It could 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:04.199 have taken years. God did it in a fraction of 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:09.360 the time. What you're up against may look bigger, stronger. 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:12.840 The odds are against you, don't worry. The most time, 0:22:12.960 --> 0:22:16.679 God is for you. He knows how to defeat giants. 0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:20.520 He knows how to turn things around. No person can 0:22:20.560 --> 0:22:25.480 stand against him. No sickness, no addiction, no obstacle. What's 0:22:25.520 --> 0:22:29.320 trying to stop you is not permanent. The God who 0:22:29.400 --> 0:22:33.520 created the universe is breathing in your direction right now, 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:37.679 pushing back forces of darkness, making your crooked places straight, 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:41.760 changing people's minds in your favor. Not only are you 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:44.640 going to come out, but in the process, you're going 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:47.680 to get your wings. You're going to rise to heights 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:52.160 that you never thought possible. In the scripture, God promised 0:22:52.200 --> 0:22:55.199 Abraham and Sarah that they were going to have a baby, 0:22:55.600 --> 0:22:58.840 but they were both way too old. Even though it 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:02.920 seemed impossible, they believe for a while, but years went 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:06.639 by and no sign of a child. Sarah finally told 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:11.240 Abraham to sleep with her maid. Her attitude was I'll 0:23:11.280 --> 0:23:15.639 never get my wings. I'll always be grounded. She thought 0:23:15.760 --> 0:23:19.000 somebody else would have to fly for her, that she 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:21.880 would have to ride piggybacks so to speak, they would 0:23:21.920 --> 0:23:26.240 have the baby. But you never see a butterfly flying 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:30.520 around with a caterpillar on his back. The promise God 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:35.119 put in you is not going to come through somebody else. Yes, 0:23:35.320 --> 0:23:38.800 sometimes people lift us, sometimes they do us a favor, 0:23:39.200 --> 0:23:43.280 but God didn't create you to be dependent on others 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:46.800 to fulfill your destiny. You are not going to have 0:23:46.840 --> 0:23:51.560 to ride piggyback. Your wings are coming. There is greatness 0:23:51.600 --> 0:23:56.720 in you. You have gifts, talents, businesses, babies in you. 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:01.800 Abraham had a baby with Sarah's maid, but that was 0:24:01.880 --> 0:24:04.800 not the promised child. And when it looked like there 0:24:04.880 --> 0:24:09.159 was no way, against all odds, at eighty years of age, 0:24:09.359 --> 0:24:13.280 Sarah gave birth to a son, the promised child. What 0:24:13.359 --> 0:24:16.200 God put in your heart is still on the way. 0:24:17.160 --> 0:24:21.720 Maybe the reason it seems so unlikely is, like Sarah, 0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:24.840 you don't have your wings yet. When you're in the 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:28.240 caterpillar stage, it's easy to talk to yourself out of it. 0:24:28.480 --> 0:24:31.719 The way to stay in faith is keep reminding yourself, 0:24:32.119 --> 0:24:36.040 my wings are coming. When Sarah heard the promise that 0:24:36.080 --> 0:24:38.600 she was going to have a baby, the first thing 0:24:38.720 --> 0:24:42.200 she did was laugh. She thought, that's so far out. 0:24:42.280 --> 0:24:46.399 It's funny because she couldn't comprehend it. She found the 0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:49.240 maid to try to make it happen. Here's the key. 0:24:49.720 --> 0:24:54.040 Don't reduce what God promised you to fit your faith. 0:24:54.720 --> 0:24:57.400 Don't bring it down to your level and go find 0:24:57.440 --> 0:25:01.000 the maid. Come up to his level. Don't be limited 0:25:01.040 --> 0:25:04.240 by your faith. Stretch your faith. If you could do 0:25:04.359 --> 0:25:07.760 it on your own, you would need wings. If you 0:25:07.800 --> 0:25:11.359 could accomplish your dreams by yourself, it wouldn't take faith. 0:25:12.040 --> 0:25:14.840 And what God has in your future is so big, 0:25:15.240 --> 0:25:20.199 so amazing. It's going to be intimidating. While you're excited. 0:25:20.480 --> 0:25:23.440 At the same time, you'll be tempted to shrink back 0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:27.120 and think, there's no way that's never happened in my family. 0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:30.359 God wouldn't have given it to you if he didn't 0:25:30.400 --> 0:25:32.800 have a way to bring it to pass. He is 0:25:32.840 --> 0:25:35.760 not asking you to figure it out. He's asking you 0:25:35.840 --> 0:25:41.000 to believe. When you believe supernatural doors can open, when 0:25:41.000 --> 0:25:44.080 you believe God can make things happen that you could 0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:47.520 never make happen. But the mistake we make too often 0:25:48.040 --> 0:25:51.720 is we reduce what God promised us to what we 0:25:51.760 --> 0:25:55.240 think is possible. A young couple came down for prayer 0:25:55.280 --> 0:25:58.679 one time they said, Joel, will you pray that this 0:25:58.840 --> 0:26:01.920 furniture we really want to buy will go on sell 0:26:02.320 --> 0:26:05.520 so we can afford it. And there's nothing wrong with 0:26:05.600 --> 0:26:09.440 being frugal. I'm all for getting good deals. But God 0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:13.120 is not dependent on what somebody else does to bring 0:26:13.160 --> 0:26:16.720 your dream to pass. He's not hoping they give you 0:26:16.760 --> 0:26:20.159 a good break so that promise will be fulfilled. Now, 0:26:20.200 --> 0:26:22.120 I told them it's great if it goes on sell, 0:26:22.720 --> 0:26:25.639 but I would rather pray that God will give you 0:26:25.720 --> 0:26:30.520 the funds to purchase it, even if it doesn't. Sometimes 0:26:30.680 --> 0:26:33.879 we're praying for things to come down when we should 0:26:33.880 --> 0:26:37.600 be praying for us to go up. The same God 0:26:38.560 --> 0:26:41.639 that can cause it to go on sell can bless 0:26:41.680 --> 0:26:46.400 you with such abundance that it doesn't matter if it doesn't. See, 0:26:46.440 --> 0:26:50.840 my father came out of poverty. He was raised very poor, 0:26:51.320 --> 0:26:54.000 went to high school with holes in his clothes, holes 0:26:54.000 --> 0:26:57.159 in his shoes. When I was ten years old, I 0:26:57.240 --> 0:27:00.120 was at a clothing store. My father was about to 0:27:00.160 --> 0:27:03.399 purchase a suit when the salesman found out he was 0:27:03.440 --> 0:27:06.800 a pastor. He said, let me go see maybe I 0:27:06.840 --> 0:27:10.240 can get you a minister's discount. And of course my 0:27:10.320 --> 0:27:13.879 father was grateful, but something about that hit him wrong. 0:27:14.520 --> 0:27:18.040 He said, Sir, I appreciate it, but that won't be necessary. 0:27:18.359 --> 0:27:23.359 My father is extremely wealthy. The salesman looked so surprised. 0:27:23.560 --> 0:27:26.919 He didn't know he was talking about his heavenly father. 0:27:28.080 --> 0:27:32.119 But my father's attitude was I was grounded long enough. 0:27:32.800 --> 0:27:35.680 I crawled around for years. This is a new day. 0:27:36.040 --> 0:27:38.919 I've got my wings and I'm not going back to 0:27:39.000 --> 0:27:44.560 that worm mentality. I was born to fly. Sometimes we're 0:27:44.600 --> 0:27:47.879 waiting for God to take us higher. God is waiting 0:27:47.920 --> 0:27:51.840 for us to bring our thinking up higher. Get rid 0:27:51.840 --> 0:27:56.040 of that worm mentality. Don't reduce what God promised you 0:27:56.359 --> 0:27:59.600 to fit your faith. Stretch your faith. How you were 0:27:59.680 --> 0:28:02.880 raised is not how you're supposed to stay. God has 0:28:03.000 --> 0:28:06.280 new levels. You may not see how this can happen. 0:28:06.560 --> 0:28:09.760 There are big obstacles in your path. Don't be moved 0:28:09.800 --> 0:28:14.280 by what you see. What you see is subject to change. 0:28:14.359 --> 0:28:18.280 Like Elijah, I can hear the sound of abundance. I 0:28:18.320 --> 0:28:22.359 hear the sound of healing, the sound of breakthroughs. You 0:28:22.440 --> 0:28:26.000 may have been grounded. I have good news. Your caterpillar 0:28:26.080 --> 0:28:30.760 days are over. I believe and declare your weans are coming. 0:28:31.800 --> 0:28:34.639 You are going to accomplish more than you thought possible. 0:28:35.280 --> 0:28:41.000 It's going to happen sooner than you think. Acceleration, promotion, healing, 0:28:41.400 --> 0:28:45.920 new opportunities, new levels, the fullness of your destiny in 0:28:46.080 --> 0:28:49.440 Jesus's name, and if you receive it, can you say amen? 0:28:49.520 --> 0:28:53.880 Today I'd like to give you an opportunity to make 0:28:54.000 --> 0:28:57.120 Jesus the lord of your life. Would you pray with me? 0:28:57.840 --> 0:29:03.440 Just say, Lord Jesus, I'll repent of my sins. Come 0:29:03.480 --> 0:29:07.280 into my heart. I'll make you my Lord and savior. 0:29:08.800 --> 0:29:11.200 If you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got 0:29:11.240 --> 0:29:14.680 born again. Get in a good Bible based church, Keep 0:29:14.720 --> 0:29:15.840 God first place. 0:29:16.840 --> 0:29:19.720 Thank you for listening to the Joel lous Deine podcast. 0:29:20.040 --> 0:29:22.680 Help us continue to share the message of hope with 0:29:22.800 --> 0:29:26.760 those all over the world. Visit Joeloustin dot com slash 0:29:26.880 --> 0:29:28.880 give Hope to give a gift today. 0:29:30.160 --> 0:29:33.080 Thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope 0:29:33.080 --> 0:29:36.440 you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest podcast to 0:29:36.520 --> 0:29:39.720 keep you inspired all through the week. We're praying for you. 0:29:39.920 --> 0:29:42.360 I know God's best is still ahead. We'll see you 0:29:42.440 --> 0:29:42.920 next time. 0:29:49.800 --> 0:29:52.320 More than ever before, people are turning to the church 0:29:52.360 --> 0:29:56.120 for their mental health struggles. Unfortunately, the church has largely 0:29:56.160 --> 0:29:59.400 been ill equipped to help. That is until now join 0:29:59.480 --> 0:30:02.480 yourly f fifty thousand people just like you who've enrolled 0:30:02.480 --> 0:30:05.640 in the Mental Health Coach training program and become equipped 0:30:05.640 --> 0:30:08.240 to health for a limited time. 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