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The units stap 26 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 3: makes it easy for grandparents and family friends to give 27 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 3: funds to a child's investment account for a limited time. 28 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 3: Download the uns stap and use the code I heeart 29 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 3: fifty at sign up to receive a fifty dollars bonus 30 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 3: when you fund your account. That's code iHeart fifty when 31 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 3: you sign up at unest dot co for a fifty 32 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 3: dollars bonus. See terms and conditions at UNEs dot co. 33 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 4: Hi. This is Joel and Victoria. 34 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 5: Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting 35 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 5: the ministry. If you enjoy today's message, why don't you 36 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:41,200 Speaker 5: be a blessing and share it with a friend. We 37 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 5: appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Well, 38 00:01:56,240 --> 00:01:59,640 Speaker 5: God bless you such a joy to come into your homes. 39 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 5: I love you, and if you're ever in our area, 40 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:04,360 Speaker 5: I hope you'll stop by and be a part of 41 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 5: one of our services. These are the finest people in 42 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,359 Speaker 5: all of Houston, Texas right here at Lakewood and we'd love. 43 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 4: To have you come out. 44 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,240 Speaker 5: But thanks for tuning in and thank you again for 45 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:16,920 Speaker 5: coming out today. And I like to start with something funny. 46 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 5: And I heard about this husband and wife. They had 47 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 5: been arguing and now they were giving each other the 48 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,480 Speaker 5: silent treatment. The man had to catch a plane early 49 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 5: the next day and he needed his wife to. 50 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 4: Wake him up. 51 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:31,360 Speaker 5: Not wanting to break the silence, he wrote a note 52 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:33,880 Speaker 5: and left it on her side of the bed. It read, 53 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 5: please wake me up at five am. He got up 54 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 5: the next morning at eight o'clock. He missed his flight. 55 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 5: He was so upset. 56 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 4: He went in to find out why. 57 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 5: She didn't wake him up, and he saw a note 58 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:47,799 Speaker 5: on his side of the bed. He opened it up. 59 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 5: It read, get up, it's five. Hold up your Bible. 60 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 5: Say it like you mean it. 61 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,799 Speaker 4: This is my Bible. I am what it says. I am. 62 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 5: I have what it says I have. I can do 63 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 5: what it says I can do. Today I will be 64 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 5: taught the word of God. I'll boldly confess. My mind 65 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 5: is alert, my heart is receptive. I will never be 66 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:13,959 Speaker 5: the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want 67 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 5: to talk to you today about keeping the right perspective. 68 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 4: We all face. 69 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 5: Challenges, but it's not really the size of the problem. 70 00:03:22,160 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 5: That's important. It's our perception of the problem. It's how 71 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 5: big or small we make. 72 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 4: It in our minds. 73 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,239 Speaker 5: You remember when Moses set twelve men in to spy 74 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 5: out the Promised Land. Ten of them came back and said, Moses, 75 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 5: we don't have a chance. There are giants in the land. 76 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,360 Speaker 5: The other two men, Joshua and Caleb, came back with 77 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 5: a different report. They said, yes, the people are big, 78 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 5: but we know our God is bigger. We are well 79 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 5: able to take the land. 80 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 4: Let us go in at once. 81 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 5: Notice both groups saw the same people, the same circumstances. 82 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 5: The only difference was their perspective. One group was focused 83 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 5: on the size of the enemy. The other group was 84 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 5: focused on the size of their God. Out of those 85 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 5: two million people that were camped next door to the 86 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 5: Promised Land that day, the only two people from that 87 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:18,359 Speaker 5: group to ever make it in were Joshua and Caleb. 88 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 5: Could it be that our perspective is keeping us out 89 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:27,480 Speaker 5: of our Promised Land? If we view our challenges as impossible, 90 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,560 Speaker 5: we go around telling ourselves I'll never get well, i'll 91 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 5: never get out of debt, I'll never accomplish my dreams. Then, 92 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 5: just like them, our own wrong perspective can keep us 93 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 5: from God's best. See what we focus on, we magnify. 94 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 5: If you stay focused on your problems, what you don't 95 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 5: have and how it's never going to work out, all 96 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 5: you're doing. 97 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 4: Is making that bigger than it really is. 98 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,479 Speaker 5: When we magnify something, we don't change the actual size 99 00:04:56,520 --> 00:05:00,160 Speaker 5: of the object. We change our perception of it. And 100 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:05,040 Speaker 5: that's why David said, magnify the Lord with me. He 101 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:08,320 Speaker 5: was saying, if you're going to make anything bigger, don't 102 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 5: make your problems bigger. Don't make the medical report bigger, 103 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 5: don't make the opposition bigger. Learn to make God bigger. 104 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 5: It's interesting David never called Goliath a giant. Everybody else did. 105 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 5: They talked about his size, his strength, his ability, but 106 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 5: David called him an uncircumcised philistine. David wouldn't even give 107 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 5: him credit for being that big. 108 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 4: Here's the key. He didn't deny it, but he didn't 109 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 4: dwell on it. 110 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 5: His attitude was, if I'm going to magnify anything, I'm 111 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,159 Speaker 5: going to magnify the source of my strength. I'm going 112 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 5: to talk about the greatness of God. I'm not going 113 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 5: to focus on how big my problem is. I'm going 114 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 5: to focus on how big my God is. David's brothers 115 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 5: and the other Israelites were afraid, intimidated, didn't know what 116 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,479 Speaker 5: they were going to do. And when David had told 117 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 5: them that he wanted to face Goliath, they said, David, 118 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 5: you don't have a chance. 119 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 4: You're too small. 120 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 5: You're just a kid. But David had a different perspective. 121 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,839 Speaker 5: He knew if God before him, who dared be against him? 122 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 4: He knew he was strong in the Lord. 123 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 5: He knew all the forces of heaven were backing him up. 124 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:22,840 Speaker 5: They tried to warn him. They said, David, you better 125 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,839 Speaker 5: be careful. You better not get out there and fight Goliath. 126 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 5: He's too big to hit. David said, no, he's too 127 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 5: big to miss. David stood in front of him and said, Goliath, 128 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 5: you come against me with a sword and a shield, 129 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,559 Speaker 5: but I come against you in the name of the Lord, 130 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 5: God of Israel. What was David doing magnifying his God, 131 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 5: talking about God's greatness? 132 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 4: You know the story. 133 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 5: This teenage boy half his size, no military training, defeated 134 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 5: this huge giant. 135 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:56,600 Speaker 4: Why he had the right perspective. 136 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 5: Philippians one twenty eight says, do not be intimidated by 137 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 5: your enemies. Some of you, like David, are up against 138 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:08,640 Speaker 5: a great giant right now. A giant in your health, 139 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 5: giant your finances, may be a giant in your relationship. 140 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 5: It looks so big you could easily be overwhelmed and 141 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 5: think I don't have a chance. No, God is saying, 142 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 5: don't be intimidated. Those that are for you are greater 143 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 5: than those that are against you. Put your shoulders back, 144 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 5: hold your head up high. You are not weak, defeated, powerless. 145 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,239 Speaker 5: You are a child of the most high. 146 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,040 Speaker 4: God, anointed, equipped, well able. 147 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 5: Don't you dare drag around thinking, well, Joel, I'm never 148 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 5: gonna break this addiction. 149 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 4: I've had it forever. 150 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 5: My property's never gonna sell, it's been on the market 151 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 5: so long. Never gonna accomplish my dreams. No, do, like David, 152 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 5: get the right perspective. You are full of can do power. 153 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 5: The greatest force in the universe is breathing in your direction. 154 00:07:56,320 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 5: There is no challenge too much for you, no sickness 155 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 5: too great, no dream too big. The same power that 156 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 5: raised Christ from the dead lives on the inside of you. 157 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 5: The enemy would not be fighting you so hard if 158 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 5: he didn't know God had something great in your future. 159 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 5: I found the size of the challenge is an indication 160 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 5: of the size of your destiny. If you've got a 161 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 5: big problem today, don't be discouraged. That just means God 162 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 5: has something amazing up in front of you. He's got 163 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,440 Speaker 5: a new level of your destiny. Do you know what 164 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 5: made David king Goliath? God used the opposition to get 165 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 5: him to the throne. When you face great difficulty, it's 166 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 5: because God's trying to get you to your throne. He's 167 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 5: trying to take you to a higher level. That opposition 168 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 5: may have been meant for your harm, but God will 169 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 5: turn it around and use it to your advantage. The 170 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 5: giant was never meant to defeat you. It was meant 171 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,760 Speaker 5: to promote you. You may be in a tough time, 172 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 5: but the right perspective is I'm not staying here. 173 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 4: This is temporary. 174 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,320 Speaker 5: I'm not buried. I'm planted. I'm going to come back 175 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 5: up again, stronger, healthier, wiser, better off than. 176 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 4: I was before. For what it says in Exodus, the 177 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 4: more opposition, the more they increased. 178 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,199 Speaker 5: When you face difficulties, don't start complaining God, wi is 179 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 5: this happening to me? Joel said twenty eleven was gonna 180 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 5: be my year. I must have heard wrong. Now your 181 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 5: declaration should be I know this opposition is a sure 182 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,600 Speaker 5: sign increases come in my way. It may look like 183 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 5: a setback, but I know the truth. 184 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:35,640 Speaker 4: It's a set up. 185 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:38,080 Speaker 5: It's not going to be a stumbling block to hold 186 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 5: me down. God's going to use it as a stepping 187 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 5: stone to take me higher. We got to have that 188 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 5: vision of victory like David did, because sometimes we're talking 189 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,959 Speaker 5: to God about how big our problems are. We should 190 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 5: be talking to our problems about how big our God is. Now. 191 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 4: I love the way David responded. 192 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 5: Goliath was laughing and making fun of him because he 193 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 5: was so small. Golias said to the Israelites and my 194 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 5: dog that you'd come at me with a stick. Don't 195 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,680 Speaker 5: you have anything bigger than this little runt named David. 196 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 5: David looked him in the eyes and said, listen here, 197 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 5: big talker, this day I will defeat you and feed 198 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 5: your head to the birds of the air. I love 199 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 5: his attitude. He didn't say, I hope, so I'm praying 200 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 5: about it. 201 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:21,800 Speaker 4: I'm believing for it. 202 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 5: You know, our declaration should be I will have a 203 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 5: blessed twenty eleven I will live healthy and strong. I 204 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 5: will break this addiction. I will fulfill my God given destiny. 205 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,680 Speaker 5: You got to have a made up mind. Don't be 206 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 5: intimidated by the medical report. Don't be intimidated by the 207 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:45,679 Speaker 5: legal situation. Don't be intimidated by the size of your dreams. 208 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 4: We're not careful. 209 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,440 Speaker 5: We can think, man, Joel, I could never accomplish what 210 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 5: God has put in my heart. I don't have the resources, 211 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,280 Speaker 5: I don't have the education, I don't have the connections. 212 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 5: I'm such an underdog. I'm so in debt. Friends, you 213 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 5: can talk yourself into being defeated. You can talk yourself 214 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:07,040 Speaker 5: in to living an average, mediocre, barely get by life. 215 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 4: I almost did. 216 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:10,680 Speaker 5: A couple of years after Victoria and I were married. 217 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 5: We're out walking one night through this nice neighborhood looking 218 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 5: at the different houses, and we came to this beautiful 219 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 5: two story home that was just finished being built. Victoria said, 220 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 5: as confidently as can be, just like she was stating 221 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 5: it as fact, Joel, one day we will live in 222 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 5: a house just like that. That was so far out 223 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 5: in my mind. I didn't see any way, and I 224 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 5: went on to tell her all the reasons why it 225 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:40,200 Speaker 5: was impossible, and how we were never going to have 226 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 5: that much, and she just should not get her hopes up. 227 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,320 Speaker 5: The great men of faith that I am see, I 228 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 5: was looking at it only in the natural. I knew 229 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:52,079 Speaker 5: what we made, I knew what we could expect. I 230 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,280 Speaker 5: had it all figured out. But Victoria had a different perspective. 231 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 5: She knew that we served a supernatural God. He's not 232 00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 5: limited by our job, or the economy, the stock market, 233 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:08,959 Speaker 5: our education. She saw him as Jehovah Jirah, the Lord, 234 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 5: our provider. She knew it may be impossible with men, 235 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 5: but with God, all things are possible. She believed Ephesians 236 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 5: three twenty that God can do exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond. 237 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 5: Over time, she talked me into changing my perspective, and 238 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 5: do you know a few years later, God supernaturally opened 239 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 5: up doors, poured out his favor, and we saw that 240 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:36,679 Speaker 5: dream come to pass. Could it be that your perspective 241 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 5: is keeping God from doing something amazing in your life? 242 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 5: Could it be like I did, you've already decided the 243 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 5: giants are too big, you don't have what it takes, 244 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 5: You'll never be at that level. No, I'm trying to 245 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:52,560 Speaker 5: do for you what Victoria did for me. You've got 246 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 5: to have a new perspective. You've got to take the 247 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 5: limits off of God. Quit telling him what you can't do, 248 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 5: and how you don't have the connections and how you'll 249 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 5: never get ahead. 250 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 4: Listen, God has. 251 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:07,559 Speaker 5: Ways to increase you that you've never thought about in 252 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 5: your future. God has already lined up the right people, 253 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 5: the right breaks. He has explosive blessings that will catapult 254 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,720 Speaker 5: you to a whole new level. You are not limited 255 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 5: by your background, by how you were raised, by your education, 256 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 5: even by your past mistakes. What limits God is our thinking. 257 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 5: If you think you've reached your limits, than you have. 258 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 5: If you think the giant is too big, then you're defeated. 259 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,959 Speaker 5: You got to change your perspective. Friends, you were never 260 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,640 Speaker 5: created to be average. You have seeds of greatness on 261 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 5: the inside. God did not breathe his life into us 262 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 5: for us to just barely get by and go around 263 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 5: intimidated by our dreams and convinced that the giants are 264 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 5: too big. Now, God's destiny for you is to live 265 00:13:56,640 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 5: an overcoming life of victory. God wants you to leave 266 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 5: you a mark on this generation. You may be facing 267 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 5: a big challenge. I'm not asking you to deny it. 268 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 5: I'm asking you to not dwell on it. Don't let 269 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,960 Speaker 5: it consume you. Don't think about the problem all the time. 270 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 5: Don't go look up the sickness on the internet and 271 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 5: find out twenty seven different ways you can die from it. 272 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 4: Do like David and downplay it. 273 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 5: I met a lady after the service not long ago, 274 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 5: and she was here in town with her husband, and 275 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 5: they were so excited about being here. And after we 276 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:34,360 Speaker 5: visited a moment as she was walking off, I noticed 277 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,400 Speaker 5: she had a wristband from the hospital. Now, I ask 278 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:41,119 Speaker 5: if everything was okay. She said, Joel, everything is fine. 279 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 5: I'm being treated, but all is well. She wouldn't even 280 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,400 Speaker 5: say the word cancer. She wouldn't even give it the 281 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 5: credit for what it was. She wasn't denying it, but 282 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 5: she was choosing not to dwell on it. Her attitude was, 283 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 5: I'm not intimidated. This cancer is not bigger. 284 00:14:59,440 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 4: Than my God. 285 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 5: God God created my body. He controls my destiny. No 286 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 5: weapon formed against me is gonna prosper. 287 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 4: If it's not my. 288 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 5: Time to go, then I'm not gonna go. I love 289 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 5: the way she wasn't intimidated. I read where Martin Luther 290 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 5: woke up one time in the middle of the night 291 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 5: and Satan himself was standing at the end of his bed. 292 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 5: He said, oh, it's only you, and rolled over and 293 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 5: went back to sleep. Don't be intimidated by the thoughts 294 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 5: that are telling you. 295 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 4: It's too big. It's never going to change. 296 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 3: No. 297 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 5: In the battle, more than ever, you have to guard 298 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 5: your mind. That's the enemy's number one target. He knows 299 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 5: if he can control your thought life, he can keep 300 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,840 Speaker 5: you defeated. The scripture says he goes about as a 301 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 5: roaring lion. Doesn't say he is one, he acts like one. 302 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 5: In other words, he's got a big bark. Those thoughts 303 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 5: will come telling you you're never gonna get well. This 304 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 5: sickness is the end of you. You've seen your best days. 305 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 5: Here's what I've learned. He's all bark and no bite. 306 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 5: Just tell him no thanks. I'm not moved by what 307 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 5: I feel. I'm moved by what I know, And I 308 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,640 Speaker 5: know the creator of the universe has me in the 309 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 5: palm of his hands. I know all things are gonna 310 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,160 Speaker 5: work together for my good. This is what my mother 311 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 5: did when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer in nineteen 312 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 5: eighty one, she was given a few weeks to live. 313 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 5: She told how she would lay in bed at night 314 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 5: and those thoughts would come, telling her, you can wear 315 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 5: that new red dress you bought to your funeral. You 316 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 5: can have them bury you in those white shoes, thoughts 317 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 5: telling her the worst possible scenario. 318 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 4: If you don't guard your. 319 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 5: Mind, it's very easy to lose perspective and to start 320 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 5: magnifying the problem rather than magnifying God. We can't keep 321 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 5: the negative thoughts from coming, but we don't have to 322 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,840 Speaker 5: dwell on them. When they come, we should immediately replace 323 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 5: them with what God says about us. That thought told 324 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 5: my mother you can be buried in that red dress, 325 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 5: she said, no thanks. With long life, God will satisfy me. Well, 326 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 5: you're never gonna get well, No thanks, God is restoring 327 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:13,879 Speaker 5: health back into me. 328 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 4: Well this is the end. You're done. No thanks. I 329 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 4: will live and. 330 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 5: Not die, and to clear the works of the Lord 331 00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:23,440 Speaker 5: today my mother, she's been going strongly. Nearly thirty years later, 332 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 5: do you know, not long ago my mother went to 333 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 5: her doctor's funeral, the same one that told her that 334 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 5: she wasn't gonna make it. And I say that respectfully 335 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 5: He was a kind man. He loved the Lord. But 336 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 5: would you ever have thought she would have outlived the doctor? 337 00:17:40,680 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 4: Friends, God has the final say. I heard a story 338 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 4: about this little boy. 339 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:49,879 Speaker 5: There was a big bully that lived down the street 340 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 5: that was always bothering him, and he was trying to 341 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 5: get his nerve up to stand up against him, but 342 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 5: he just didn't have the confidence. 343 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 4: He was too afraid. 344 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,920 Speaker 5: One day, his father bought him a new teles He 345 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 5: was out in the front yard playing with it, but 346 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 5: he was looking through the wrong end. 347 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:06,479 Speaker 4: He was looking through the big end. 348 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 5: His father came out and said, no, son, you've got 349 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 5: it backwards. Turn it around and it'll make the object 350 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 5: appear bigger, like it was meant to do. The little 351 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,200 Speaker 5: boy said, I know that, Dad, But right now I'm 352 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 5: looking at this bully, and when I see him this way, 353 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 5: it makes him so small that I'm not afraid of 354 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 5: him anymore. Some of you today need to turn your 355 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 5: telescope around. You've magnified the problem long enough. You've thought 356 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:35,960 Speaker 5: about how impossible it is and how it's never going 357 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,920 Speaker 5: to work out. But if you could just turn it around, 358 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:42,679 Speaker 5: you would get the right perspective. You would realize that 359 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 5: it's no big deal. All God has to do is 360 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 5: breathe in your direction. That dream coming to pass that 361 00:18:49,280 --> 00:18:53,560 Speaker 5: looks so impossible, so unlikely. If you could just by 362 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 5: faide turn your telescope around, you would realize that all 363 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,200 Speaker 5: it takes is one touch of God's favor. It's just 364 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 5: this one phone call, one good break, meeting one right person. 365 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:04,880 Speaker 4: It all work out. 366 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 5: It's amazing what God will do when we have the 367 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:13,119 Speaker 5: right perspective. In Second Chronicles, chapter twenty, King Jehosaphat and 368 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 5: the people of Judah were surrounded by three major armies 369 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,120 Speaker 5: that were quickly closing in on them. In the natural 370 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 5: they didn't have a chance. They were outnumbered, probably ten 371 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:27,159 Speaker 5: to one. But instead of complaining, Jehosaphat got all the 372 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,680 Speaker 5: people together and he began to pray. He didn't say, 373 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,600 Speaker 5: poor old us, God, why is this happening. No, he 374 00:19:33,720 --> 00:19:37,399 Speaker 5: began to talk about the greatness of God. He said, God, 375 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,919 Speaker 5: we know you rule all the nations of the world. 376 00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 5: All power and might is in your hand. 377 00:19:43,880 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 4: Nothing can stand against you. 378 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:48,640 Speaker 5: Then he began to thank God for what he had 379 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:49,520 Speaker 5: done in the past. 380 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 4: He began to remember his victories. 381 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 5: He said, God, we know you are the one that 382 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,240 Speaker 5: drove the inhabitants out of this land. God, you gave 383 00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 5: us this city that you promised our ancestor Abraham. God, 384 00:20:01,840 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 5: you defeated this enemy on and on. What was he 385 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,720 Speaker 5: doing in his time of difficulty, making sure he had 386 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 5: the right perspective, magnifying God and not his problem in 387 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,439 Speaker 5: the same way in our times of difficulty, instead of 388 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 5: complaining God, the economy is so bad, gas is getting 389 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:22,880 Speaker 5: so high. God, I don't think my child's ever gone 390 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 5: straighten up. God, I don't see how I could ever 391 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 5: get well. No, if you talk defeat, you're gonna have defeat. 392 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,720 Speaker 5: You've got to do like Jehosaphat and say God, you 393 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,920 Speaker 5: are an awesome God. You created the whole universe. Nothing's 394 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 5: too hard for you. God, you said you knew me 395 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 5: before I was formed in my mother's womb. And so, God, 396 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:44,639 Speaker 5: I'm not worried about this problem. I know You're greater 397 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 5: than this financial difficulty. You make streets out of gold. 398 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,560 Speaker 5: I know You're more powerful than this sickness you created 399 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 5: my body. When you magnify God, faith rises in your heart. 400 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,640 Speaker 5: When you talk about God's greatness, your problems get smaller 401 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,640 Speaker 5: and it's. 402 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:02,880 Speaker 4: Good to do like Jahasapat. 403 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,840 Speaker 5: Look back over your life and remember the great things 404 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 5: God has done. 405 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:08,440 Speaker 4: God. 406 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 5: I remember how you healed my mother when they said 407 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:11,840 Speaker 5: there was no hope. 408 00:21:12,359 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 4: God. 409 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,159 Speaker 5: I remember when I walked into the jewelry store and 410 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 5: met Victoria. I remember God, how you protected me on 411 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 5: the highway when my car was spinning around in the 412 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 5: rain that day. 413 00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 4: God, I remember how. 414 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 5: You gave us this beautiful facility when all the odds 415 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 5: are against us. When you remember the great things God 416 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 5: has done, you'll know if God did it for you 417 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 5: back then, God will do it for you right now. 418 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 5: One time in the scripture, the prophet Elijah was facing 419 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 5: a major challenge. Four hundred false prophets had come against him, 420 00:21:43,280 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 5: and they decided to have a contest to see which 421 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,919 Speaker 5: God was real. Elijah ended up calling down fire from heaven. 422 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,640 Speaker 5: It destroyed those four hundred prophets. It was a great victory, 423 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,080 Speaker 5: one of the highlights of his life. But there was 424 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 5: a lady there named Jezebel. When she heard what happened 425 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:04,200 Speaker 5: to hers, she was furious. She sent word to Elijah saying, 426 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 5: if I don't kill you by this time tomorrow myself, 427 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,680 Speaker 5: then I'm gonna take my own life. When Elijah heard this, 428 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:15,320 Speaker 5: he was so afraid he took off running. He ran 429 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 5: and ran so far until he finally hid underneath the tree. 430 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 5: So depressed, so discouraged, he said, God, I don't even 431 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:24,360 Speaker 5: want to live anymore. 432 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 4: I'm done. God, just take me on home. 433 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,200 Speaker 5: Think about it. He had just seen God rain down 434 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 5: fire from heaven. He had just seen God protect him 435 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:34,920 Speaker 5: from four hundred men. 436 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 4: Now he is allowing one angry woman. 437 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 5: I could make a joke, but I'm not to cause 438 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,640 Speaker 5: him to want to give up and quit. What happened 439 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,440 Speaker 5: he lost his perspective. If he would have just remembered 440 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:54,199 Speaker 5: what God did a few days earlier, he wouldn't have 441 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 5: been so afraid. 442 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,240 Speaker 4: I wonder how many times we do the same thing. 443 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 5: We've all seen God do great things in our lives. 444 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,639 Speaker 5: We've seen God protect us and show us favor and 445 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 5: cause us be at the right place at the right time. 446 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,280 Speaker 5: But if we're not careful, we'll face a challenge and 447 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 5: we'll think, oh, this is never gonna change. 448 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 4: This enemy is too big. 449 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,000 Speaker 5: No, the same God that brought you through last time 450 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 5: is standing by your side, ready to bring you through 451 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,640 Speaker 5: this time. The same God that made away last year 452 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 5: is gonna make away this year. 453 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 4: The same God that. 454 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:31,119 Speaker 5: Showed you his favor, his mercy, his goodness. He has 455 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 5: not lost his power. He's still on the throne. He's 456 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 5: still the great I am. He's still the God who's 457 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 5: more than enough. 458 00:23:38,280 --> 00:23:39,560 Speaker 4: If you will have the right. 459 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,360 Speaker 5: Perspective and believe that he's bigger, and believe that right 460 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 5: now he's fighting your battles for you, then you will 461 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 5: see his power, his goodness, his mercy once again like 462 00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:53,400 Speaker 5: you've seen in the past. Remember your victories. It'll help 463 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 5: you to not lose perspective. When Victoria and I first 464 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:00,239 Speaker 5: got married, we lived in a townhouse that back up 465 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 5: to the woods, and our family room was at the 466 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,480 Speaker 5: back of the house, and we had this window from 467 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:08,360 Speaker 5: floor to ceiling. When you look through the family room, 468 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,239 Speaker 5: it was just like you were outside. Our bedroom was 469 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,639 Speaker 5: right up the stairs, kind of looking down on the 470 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 5: family room. One Saturday, Victoria got up early to go 471 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 5: to work at the jewelry store with her mom, and 472 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 5: a few seconds after she walked out of the bedroom, 473 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 5: she came running back in said, Joel, get up, there's 474 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:27,720 Speaker 5: a squirrel in our family room. 475 00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 4: Right in front of the window. 476 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 5: I said, no, Victoria, your perspective is off. 477 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:33,879 Speaker 4: It's an illusion. 478 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:37,880 Speaker 5: It looks like he's inside, but really he's outside. She said, okay, 479 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 5: she went back out. A few seconds later she came 480 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,360 Speaker 5: back in. Her eyes are this big, Joel, I'm telling you, the. 481 00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 4: Squirrel is inside our house. 482 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 5: My heart started beating, and I walked out about halfway 483 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 5: down the stairs, and sure enough, there he was, the 484 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 5: squirrel inside, about twenty feet in front of me. Thought 485 00:24:55,040 --> 00:24:56,520 Speaker 5: oh man, I don't want to deal with this squirrel. 486 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,119 Speaker 5: I'm afraid of squirrels. I said, Victoria, come on over 487 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 5: here and help me. And all Victoria could do was laugh. 488 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 5: When she gets nervous, she starts laughing. I said, Victoria, 489 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 5: there is nothing funny about this squirrel being in our house. 490 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 4: And about that time, the squirrel took a few steps 491 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:14,240 Speaker 4: toward me. 492 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 5: I thought, now, wait a minute, and I backed up. 493 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:19,000 Speaker 4: He took more steps toward me. 494 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 5: I thought, dear God, do not let this squirrel attack 495 00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 5: me in my own home. 496 00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 4: I decided I was going to make a run for it. 497 00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 5: With the adrenaline flowing, I turned around and I ran 498 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:31,720 Speaker 5: up the stairs as fast as I could got to 499 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 5: my bedroom. 500 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,440 Speaker 4: Shut the door. God is my witness. 501 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:39,880 Speaker 5: That squirrel beat me to the bedroom. He was right 502 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 5: at my feet, looking up at me like he had 503 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 5: a big grin on his face. 504 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:45,640 Speaker 4: I nearly passed out. I had a call. 505 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 5: I had to call Victoria's dad to come get this 506 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 5: squirrel out of our house. 507 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:51,080 Speaker 4: What's my point? 508 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 5: I've learned to never question Victoria's perspective anymore. I forgot 509 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:03,280 Speaker 5: my next door to y'all. In Second Kings, chapter six, 510 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,280 Speaker 5: the Syrian army had quietly snuck up one night and 511 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 5: surrounded Elisha's house. 512 00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 4: Early the next day, his. 513 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,679 Speaker 5: Servant went out and saw all these enemy forces, thousands 514 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 5: of troops, chariots, horses everywhere he looked. And the servant 515 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:20,719 Speaker 5: went back in and said, Elisha, I got terrible news. 516 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 4: We're surrounded. Get up. What are we gonna do? We 517 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 4: don't have a chance. 518 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,680 Speaker 5: And I love Elisha's attitude. He had a different perspective. 519 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 5: He said in verse sixteen, don't be afraid. Those that 520 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,880 Speaker 5: are for us are greater than those that are against us. 521 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,200 Speaker 5: The servant was puzzled. He said, what do you mean, Elisha, 522 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 5: just me and you two of us? I saw thousands 523 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,680 Speaker 5: of them. Elisha prayed a very simple prayer. He said, Lord, 524 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 5: open his eyes that he might see. He was saying, 525 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,640 Speaker 5: in effect, God, help him to have the right perspective, 526 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 5: let him know who's really on our side. The scripture 527 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 5: says that the Lord opened the young man's eyes to 528 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:03,880 Speaker 5: where he could into the unseen spiritual realm. This time, 529 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,040 Speaker 5: when he went out and looked, he didn't just see 530 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,359 Speaker 5: the Syrian army. He saw a vast host of the 531 00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 5: heavenly armies all across the mountain side, hundreds of thousands 532 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:18,119 Speaker 5: of these powerful warring angels, dressed and ready for battle. 533 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:22,120 Speaker 5: Once he saw that, he wasn't intimidated anymore. He had 534 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:26,240 Speaker 5: the right perspective. You may be facing a big challenge today. 535 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 5: God is saying the same thing to you that he 536 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 5: said to that young man. 537 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:31,280 Speaker 4: Don't be afraid. 538 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 5: Those that are for you are greater than those that 539 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:38,080 Speaker 5: are against you. The obstacle may be high, but our 540 00:27:38,119 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 5: God is the most high. The enemy may be powerful, 541 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 5: but our God is all powerful. Keep the right perspective. 542 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 5: Turn your telescope around. Don't focus on the side of 543 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 5: the problem, focus on the size of your God. He's 544 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 5: brought you through in the past. He's going to bring 545 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,679 Speaker 5: you through in the future. I speak strength into you. Today, 546 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 5: I speak healing. I speak to termination, wisdom, confidence. I 547 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 5: declare you will not be intimidated. Friends, Today the tide 548 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,439 Speaker 5: of the battle is beginning to turn. You will not 549 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,920 Speaker 5: be overcome. You will be the overcome Earth. You will 550 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 5: not be the victim. You will be the victor. God 551 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,160 Speaker 5: is fighting your battles for you. He's going to defeat 552 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 5: your enemies. And I believe in declare he's not only 553 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,400 Speaker 5: going to bring you out, He's going to bring you. 554 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,880 Speaker 4: Out better off than you were before. In Jesus' name, 555 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,040 Speaker 4: if you receive it, can you say amen. 556 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 5: We never like to close our broadcast without giving you 557 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 5: an opportunity to make Jesus the lord of your life. 558 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:43,720 Speaker 5: Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord, Jesus, I 559 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 5: repent of my sins. 560 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 4: Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and savior. 561 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 5: Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you 562 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 5: got born again. Get in a good Bible based church. 563 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 5: Keep God first place. He's going to take your places 564 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 5: that ever dreamed of. 565 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to the joel Ostine podcast. Help 566 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 3: us continue to share the message of hope with those 567 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 3: all over the world. Visit jolostein dot. 568 00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 4: Com slash give Hope to give a gift today. Thanks 569 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 4: so much for listening to today's message. 570 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,240 Speaker 5: I hope you'll subscribe so you can receive the latest 571 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 5: podcast to keep. 572 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,480 Speaker 4: You inspired all through the week. We're praying for you. 573 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 4: I know God's best is still ahead. We'll see you 574 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:27,680 Speaker 4: next time.