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See terms and conditions at 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:30.080 UNEs dot co. 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:34.800 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for downloading our podcast. 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:37.880 We enjoy spending this time with you. I hope you'll 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:38.679 leave Inspire. 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:41.919 Make sure you subscribe to get new messages every week. 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.240 We appreciate your support. It helps keep the ministry going. 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:57.560 Enjoy the message. 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:00.440 Bless you. 0:02:00.840 --> 0:02:03.280 It's always a joy to come into your homes and 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:06.040 if you're ever in our area, please stop by and 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:08.240 be a part of one of our services. These are 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.800 the finest people in all of Houston, Texas, right here 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:13.919 at Lake World. Thanks so much for tuning in. Thank 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.560 you again for coming out. I like to start with 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.920 something funny. And I heard about this positive farmer and 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:23.920 negative farmer. When it would rain, the positive farmer will say, Lord, 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:27.240 thank you for water and our crops. The negative farmer say, yeah, 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.079 but if it keeps this up, it's going to rock 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:32.680 the roots. When the sun would come out, positive farmer, Lord, 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.720 thank you for giving our plants valuable nutrients. Negative farmers, Yeah, 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:37.639 but if it keeps. 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:39.360 This up, it's going to scorch the crops. 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.800 One day they were in a boat bird hunting together 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:46.200 and the positive farmer just got a brand new bird dog, 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.560 and he was so proud of him. He shot a bird. 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:51.960 It fell in the water. Said to the negative farmer, 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.080 watch this. The dog jumped out of the boat, ran 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.519 on top of the water, picked up the bird, ran 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:00.919 back on top of the water, put it in the boat. 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:03.839 Said what do you think about that? Negative farmer said, 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:08.080 I should have known it. That dog can't even swim. 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:10.560 Hold up your bible, say it like you mean it. 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.600 This is my Bible. I am what it says, I am, 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:15.000 I have what it says. 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.359 I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.240 I will be taught the word of God. I boldly 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:25.360 confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:29.280 will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.280 I want to talk to you today about it's too small. 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.200 We all have dreams and goals, and we do our 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.200 best to stretch our faith and believe that one day, 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.960 if we work hard enough and get the right breaks, 0:03:43.160 --> 0:03:46.200 meet the right people, we'll see that dream come to pass. 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:50.160 In our mind, that would be big, a great accomplishment. 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:53.560 But what's big to us is not big to God. 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:59.560 He created universes, He spoke worlds into existence. In God's 0:03:59.640 --> 0:04:02.800 dream for your life is so much bigger than your own. 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:05.920 We think, if I could just pay my house off, 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:09.440 that would be a dream come true. God says that's 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:12.400 too small. I want to bless you so you not 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.040 only pay your house off, but so you can help 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.240 others pay their houses off. Or we think if I 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:21.000 could just get that promotion at work, be able to 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:22.160 run my department. 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.000 God says, that's too small. I want you to run 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:28.719 that whole company. Or if I could just overcome this illness. 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:30.880 If I could just get back on my feet again, 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:32.120 that would be so great. 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:34.359 God says, that's too small. 0:04:34.880 --> 0:04:36.880 You're not only going to get back on your feet, 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:38.119 You're going to run again. 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.240 You're going to feel better than you've ever felt. 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:47.800 See, we think ordinary, God thinks extraordinary. Whatever you're dreaming about, 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:51.359 whatever you're believing for, God is saying it's too small. 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:56.360 He's going to supersize it. He's an overflow God. Ef 0:04:56.560 --> 0:05:01.080 Esian says, God can do exceedingly abundantly, above and beyond 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:02.000 what we think. 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:03.520 Why don't you take. 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:06.200 The limits off of God. You may not see away, 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.120 but God has a way. One touch of God's favor 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:12.640 can take you further than you could go on your 0:05:12.680 --> 0:05:16.839 own in a lifetime. God did not create you to 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:21.120 live a little life with little dreams, little goals, little passion, 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:26.200 little influence, little house. God thinks big, He thinks abundance, 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:27.799 He thinks expansive. 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.600 He told the Israelites, I am bringing you into a. 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:36.200 Wide land, a spacious land, flowing with milk and honey. 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:41.560 God has something bigger, something better, something more rewarding in 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:42.080 front of you. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:44.400 Don't get comfortable where you are. 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:48.400 It's easy, they well Joel, God's blessed me. I'm happy, 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:50.040 I'm healthy, I have no complaints. 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.039 That's good. Always be grateful. 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:55.719 Learn to be happy where you are, but don't settle 0:05:55.760 --> 0:06:00.159 where you are. God never performs his greatest victories in 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:00.720 the past. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:02.520 They're always in the future. 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:07.200 What God has done, the promotion, the good breaks the 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:09.080 favor in God's mind. 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:10.840 That was a small thing. 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.599 You haven't touched the surface of what God has in store. 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:18.200 He's going to open doors you never dreamed would open. 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.160 He's going to bring talent out of you that you 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:25.440 didn't know you had. You're going to see explosive blessings, 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:29.279 blessings that thrust you to a new level. What you 0:06:29.400 --> 0:06:32.440 think is big right now that house. God blessed you 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:36.279 with the scholarship, the promotion, the contract. One day you'll 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:40.200 look back and realize that was a small thing. In 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.880 the scripture, Joseph was falsely accused and put in prison. 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.440 I can imagine him praying the year after year, God, 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:50.080 please get me out of this prison. God, you know 0:06:50.160 --> 0:06:53.440 I didn't do anything wrong. That was his dream to 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:57.719 one day be free. But God said, Joseph, that's too small. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:00.600 I'm not only going to bring you out to prison. 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:03.680 I'm going to make you ruler over the whole nation. 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:08.160 In a few years, when Joseph was in charge over 0:07:08.200 --> 0:07:11.440 all of Egypt. I'm sure there were nights he went 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:14.600 outside and looked up at the stars and thought, God, 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:17.840 I never dreamed you would put me here. I was 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.040 just praying to get out of prison. But God, you 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:24.760 supersized what I was dreaming about. He realized he was 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:29.880 thinking way too small, Like Joseph, matter what you're praying about, 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:32.440 whatever you're believing for, it may be big in your mind, 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.280 but in God's mind, it's a small thing. God, just 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:38.280 help me to pay my bills, help me to make 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:39.160 it through this month. 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:40.840 God says that's too small. 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:44.160 He wants to bring you into overflow. He wants you 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:48.120 to lend and not borrow. God, I'm so lonely. Just 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:51.200 bring somebody into my life. I don't care at this point. God, 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:54.360 I'll take anybody. No, you may have settled, but God 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.640 didn't settle. He's going to bring somebody into your life 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:03.400 greater than you imagine, that honors him. Somebody that loves you, 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.600 that's fun, that's talented, it's well off, that's good looking. 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:10.120 Throw that in there. 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:10.320 Too. 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.680 You gotta stir your faith up. The only way. 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:17.200 This is going to help is if you let the 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.080 seed take root. It's easy to think, Wow, this isn't 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:23.160 for me today, Joe. You don't know my situation. I've 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:26.760 been through a lot of disappointments. My dreams look impossible. No, 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:29.280 don't talk yourself out of it. You don't have to 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:30.000 figure it out. 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.839 All you have to do is believe. Just say yes, God, 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:34.760 this is for me. 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:37.920 I believe your plans for me are bigger than I 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.400 could imagine. That you have something amazing in my future. 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.880 So I'm taking the limits off of you. When the 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.559 Israelites were in slavery, they were forced to make bricks 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.000 all day long. They were given quotas that were almost 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:55.600 impossible to meet, and at one point fro got upset 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.760 with them and had the supervisors take away all the 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.360 straw they need for bricks. They had the same amount 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.959 of quota, but they had to go find their own straw. 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.240 No doubt, they prayed, God, please give us straw. God, 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:11.800 you know these supervisors are gonna get upset. We're not 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:15.120 going to make our quotas. They had been pushed down 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:19.040 for so long. They had such a limited vision when 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:23.040 they were praying for more straw. In effect, they were 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:28.040 praying to become a better slave. God said, that's too small. 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:30.840 I don't want to make you a better slave. I 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:34.000 want to bring you totally out of that bondage. I 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.000 created you as the head and not the tail, the 0:09:37.160 --> 0:09:41.400 victor and not the victim. But too often, like them, 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:45.120 we're praying to become a better slave. God, just help 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.800 me to endure this sickness. God, just give me a 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.520 roof over my head and I'll be happy. God, just 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.319 help me to learn to live with my depression. No, 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:54.640 it's not your depression. 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.400 Quit praying to become a better slave. That's too small 0:09:58.440 --> 0:09:58.800 for you. 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:02.960 God wants you to reign in life. You have seeds 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:06.400 of greatness on the inside. You are destined to leave 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:07.960 your mark on this generation. 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:10.560 You have to enlarge your vision. 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:14.840 What God has planned for you is not little to 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:18.080 get by, to endure, to take the leftovers, to be 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:22.520 second class. God has a big life for you. He's 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:26.479 bringing you into a wide land, a place of abundance, 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:30.000 something that you've never seen. He's not going to just 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.719 make you a better slave. He's going to set you 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:37.760 totally free, free from addictions, free from sickness, free from depression, 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:39.839 free from poverty and lack. 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:44.480 No matter what level you're at, no matter where you are, 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:48.120 received this into your spirit. It's too small. 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:54.719 God has something better, something bigger, more influence, more creativity, 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:59.240 more connections, more resources. He's going to release a favor 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:02.040 that's going to thrust you into a new level of 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:06.840 your destiny. The reason you feel something igniting on the inside, 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:11.359 that stirring in your spirit, is God's speaking to your destiny. 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:13.959 That's your spirit bearing. 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:18.400 Witness with the greatness God's placed in you. Isaiah forty nine. 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:22.320 God was telling Isaiah about his future and all he 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.400 had planned for him, how God knew him before he 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.320 was formed in his mother's wound, how he would be 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:32.480 a great prophet. Isaiah was so honored he said, yes, God, 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:33.079 I'll do it. 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.199 I'll help bring all of the Israel back together. 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:41.880 God said in verse six, Isaiah, it's too small a thing. 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:43.960 For you to just restore Israel. 0:11:44.600 --> 0:11:47.760 I will make you a light to the gentiles and 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.560 help you bring salvation to the ends of the earth. 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:55.200 Isaiah's vision was limited. He said, God, I'll do it. 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:58.720 I'll help my own people no problem. That's awesome. God said, 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:03.200 that's too small. I've got something bigger planned. I'm going 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.360 to supersize what you're thinking about. I don't want you 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:08.800 to just help the Jews. I want you to help 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:13.400 all of the gentiles. In other words, Isaiah thought he 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:19.480 could touch a nation. God was thinking nations sometimes, like Isaiah, 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.640 our vision is limited. God, if I can just go 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:25.559 as far as my parents, God, if you just help 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:27.720 me get out of this old neighborhood, help me to 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:29.160 make it to sales manager. 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:32.520 God is saying to you what he said to Isaiah. 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.680 What you have in mind is too small. Your plans, 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:40.320 your goals, that's a part of it. But what God 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:43.439 has planned for you, if he showed you right now, 0:12:43.640 --> 0:12:46.959 it would boggle your mind. The doors he's going to open, 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:49.920 the places he's going to take you, the people you're 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:53.080 going to impact, is going to be much greater than 0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:56.520 you imagine. It's too small a thing for you to 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:00.760 just accomplish your own dreams. There are God decide, dreams 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:04.000 you haven't even thought about. It's too small a thing 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.960 for you to just go as far as your parents. 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:09.600 God is a progressive God. 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.320 He wants you to go further, He's already designed you 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:18.800 to supersede previous generations. Don't put it on autopilot. Well 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.160 I'm doing good enough. Good enough is not your destiny. 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.080 It's too small a thing for you to just get 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:28.480 out of debt. That's one part, But the next part 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.559 is to be blessed with such abundance. 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:32.800 That you can be a blessing to others. 0:13:33.600 --> 0:13:37.280 The scripture says God will take you from glory to glory. 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:41.240 My encouragement, don't get stuck in this glory. 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:42.880 There's another glory coming. 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:48.040 If you'll keep honoring God, living with expectancy, his blessings 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.320 will chase you down. The right people will show up. 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.760 Doors will open for you that you never dreamed would open. 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:57.680 God will bring talent out that you didn't know you had. 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:01.240 He'll get you to where you're supposed to be. In 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:04.839 nineteen thirty eight, there was a seventeen year old boy 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:09.160 selling popcorn in the Isis Theater in Fort Worth, Texas. 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:12.800 A dropout of high school from a very poor family, 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:16.000 didn't look like he had much of a future. His 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:18.600 plan was to just keep working in the theater. He 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.760 was glad to even have a job. But God in 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:25.640 his Mercy looked down from the heavens and said, it's 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:29.360 too small a thing for John Osteen to spend his 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:33.040 life working in the theater. I've put seeds of greatness 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:36.760 in him. I've destined him to leave his mark on 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:41.280 his generation. At seventeen, my father gave his life to 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:46.600 Christ and became a minister. On Mother's Day nineteen fifty nine, 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:50.520 he started Lakewood Church in a Rundown feed store. 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:51.640 With ninety members. 0:14:52.280 --> 0:14:57.120 He was happy, fulfilling his purpose, faithfully ministering to those 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:00.600 ninety people a week after week. But again God said, 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:04.640 that's too small a thing. I've destined you to touch nations. 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:10.840 My father started not only traveling overseas ministering, but people 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:14.680 from around the world begin to come to Lakewood. At 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:18.120 one conference, there were one hundred and fifty nations represented. 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:21.760 But as a seventeen year old boy, my father thought 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:24.200 he'd hit the lottery. When he got the job at 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:24.720 the theater. 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:28.920 He was thrilled. But God loves you too much to. 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:32.440 Let you stay in mediocrity. God can see what you 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:38.040 can't see. He sees potential, gifts, talents. He's already lined 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:41.560 up an incredible life for you and it's easy to 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:44.360 get satisfied and on Joel, I've reached my limits. This 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:46.520 is as good as it gets you. Now, God is 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:50.800 saying it's too small. I've got more in store. Don't 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.560 put your stakes down. You wouldn't be alive unless God 0:15:54.600 --> 0:15:58.960 had something amazing in your future. Think about David as 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.800 a shepherd boy. He was out in the fields taking 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:04.520 care of his father sheep day in and day out, 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.760 feeding them, protecting them, fighting off the wild animals. 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.640 He was faithful, he didn't slack off. He just kept 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:12.480 being his best. 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.440 God said David, this is too small a thing for you. 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.920 It's part of your destiny, but it's not the end 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:24.240 of your destiny. He went out and defeated Goliath, became 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.720 a national hero. King Saul asked him to come work 0:16:27.800 --> 0:16:30.400 in the palace, a dream come true. 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.479 I'm sure David thought, this is it. This is fantastic. 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:34.200 I've made it. 0:16:34.960 --> 0:16:37.960 But God did not create us to reach one level 0:16:38.040 --> 0:16:41.320 and stop. When we think, oh God, thank you, I've 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:46.160 accomplished my dreams, God says, I appreciate your thanks, but 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:49.400 I'm not finished with you. It's too small a thing 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:52.680 for you to stay there. I've got something bigger in 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.600 our mind, it could be huge. Just got the promotion, 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:59.360 just moved into the compact center, just met the person 0:16:59.400 --> 0:16:59.920 of my dream. 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:02.920 God did more than I can ask or thing. The 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:03.560 whole time. 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:06.760 God's in the heaven saying, you haven't seen anything yet. 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:09.960 I'm glad you're happy. But that's a small thing. 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.439 God's idea of big is much different than our idea 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:19.280 of big. David not only ended up serving the king, 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:23.800 he became the king. He thought, God, Wow, you've amazed 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:27.240 me with your goodness. God said, still, it's too small 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.480 a thing, David. I'm going to put one of your 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:33.600 descendants on the throne for the next one thousand generations. 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.840 What am I saying, where you are in God's eyes 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:42.760 is a small thing. Whatever level you're at, God has 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:47.520 something in your future so much bigger, better, more rewarding. 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:50.640 God loves you too much to let you stay where 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:54.480 you are. He's going to keep pushing you, stretching you, 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:58.560 even at times, making you uncomfortable, to get you into 0:17:58.600 --> 0:18:02.480 the fullness of your destiny. When I was in high school, 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.359 during the summers, I would work at Lakewood in the 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:09.679 mail room, packaging my father's books, filling the orders and 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:13.000 shipping them out. God said, Joe, that's fine for now, 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:15.680 but that's too small a thing for you to stay here. 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:20.000 After college, I came back and started the television ministry 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:24.240 at Lakewood. I loved cameras, lighting, editing, anything that had 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:28.160 to do with production. For seventeen years behind the scenes, 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:31.080 I was very fulfilled, travel. 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:32.120 The world with my parents. 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:35.919 Did my best to make the Lakewood broadcast look as 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:36.880 good as possible. 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:39.679 I thought that's how I would spend my life. 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:42.520 But when my father went to be with the Lord 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:45.840 in nineteen ninety nine, I knew I was supposed to 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.840 step up and pasture the church. I felt it so strongly, 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:52.600 but I had never ministered before. One of the first 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:58.120 things I did was cancel my dad's national television broadcast. 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:00.960 I thought, I'm not going to get on television. I 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:02.920 don't know how to minister, know what he's gonna listen 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.119 to me. I would be embarrassed. I told Victoria what 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.840 I'd done that night. She said, Joe, you need to 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:11.560 call that man and get the airtime back. 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:14.119 People are going to be watching all over the world 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:15.760 to see what happens to Lakewood. 0:19:16.480 --> 0:19:19.760 She talked me into keeping that airtime over the next 0:19:19.800 --> 0:19:23.720 few months. I couldn't believe it. People actually listened to 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:27.120 what I was saying. I knew there was a God 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:31.480 of miracles. We never dreamed that the church would grow. 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:35.240 There were about six thousand people coming at that time, 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:38.840 and I thought, if we could just maintain what my 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:42.960 parents had built, that would be big. But God's big 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:47.160 is much different than our big. The scripture says God's 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:52.320 thoughts are higher than our thoughts. My big was to maintain. 0:19:53.080 --> 0:19:57.480 God's big was to multiply. My big was to hold on. 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.919 God's big was to propel forward. Our big is to 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:05.359 pay our bills. God's big is to be debt free 0:20:05.560 --> 0:20:08.640 and have plenty left over. Our big is to get 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:12.720 that promotion. God's big is to own your own company. 0:20:13.600 --> 0:20:15.840 Our big is to just make it through the illness. 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:19.280 God's big is to come out better than you were before. 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:22.960 When my father went to be with the Lord, we 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:26.680 had an eight thousand seat auditorium. Was a large church 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:30.800 even then. But God said that's too small. I've got 0:20:30.800 --> 0:20:34.320 a compact center in store, I've got Yankee stadiums to 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.960 fill out, I've got books to publish, I've got world 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:40.399 leaders to me all through my life, just when I 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:44.240 thought I'd reached my limits, God would come along and say, 0:20:44.280 --> 0:20:46.280 that's good, but it's too small. 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:48.560 I'm asking you to. 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:52.120 Stir your faith out, get ready to go where you've 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:56.280 never been. God told the Israelites you have not passed 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:57.360 this way before. 0:20:57.960 --> 0:20:59.560 There are new mountains to climb. 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:01.880 There are new opportunities coming. 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:04.480 Your way, and where you are may be big. 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:07.960 In your mind, you feel blessed you've reached a certain level. 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:12.920 But in God's mind, that's too small to stay. Whatever 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:16.720 you're dreaming about, God's going to supersize it. He's going 0:21:16.760 --> 0:21:17.640 to do more than. 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:20.480 You can ask or think. The real question is are 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:22.639 you ready? Are you in agreement? 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:26.200 There's about to be a downpour of God's favor, an 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:30.000 abundance of brains like a flood. It's going to thrust 0:21:30.080 --> 0:21:33.880 you where you could not go on your own. That's 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:36.439 what happened to a friend of mine, a Lakewood member. 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:40.600 He grew up in a small town in Kentucky, very poor, 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:44.119