WEBVTT - The Courage To Get Well | Joel Osteen 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.000 Hi, it's Joel and Victoria. What a joy to be 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:05.640 with you today. We always counted an honor. Know that 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:07.920 we're praying for you and your family we share. Hope 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:11.039 you enjoy this podcast today and we just are praying 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:13.520 for you and know that God is for you, so 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:17.799 enjoy today's message. God bless you. It's great to be 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.520 with you today, and I hope you stay connected with 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:24.160 us during the week through our daily podcast on YouTube channel, 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:27.280 social media, and you can come visit us in person. 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:29.200 We'd love to have you be a part of one 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.080 of our services. But I'd like to start with something funny. 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:35.440 And I heard about these two men named Archie and Jack. 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:39.120 They had debated their whole life as to whether Jesus 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:42.800 was white or whether he was black. Archie was certain 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:45.600 he was white. Jack was just as certain he was black. 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:48.640 As fate would have it, they died on the same 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:51.920 day and rushed to the pearly gates, said, Saint Peter, 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:55.040 please tell us. We've been arguing our whole life. Is 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:58.640 Jesus white or is he black? About that time, Jesus 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:04.200 stepped up and said, all right, guys, say it like 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.039 you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:09.760 it says I am. I have what it says I have. 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:12.920 I can do what it says I can do. Today 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:16.480 I will be taught the word of God. I'll boldly confess. 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.360 My mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I will 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:24.240 never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.040 I want to talk to you today about the courage 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:31.480 to get well. We all have areas where we're not 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:37.280 being our best. Something is limiting us, lack of confidence, unforgiveness, 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:41.039 and addiction. We don't like it. We know it's holding 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.160 us back, but often we learn to live with it. 0:01:44.840 --> 0:01:50.480 Human nature leans toward what's comfortable. It's not change we resist. 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:54.600 It's what's required of change. It's easier to stay the same. 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.640 If we accept it and let it become a part 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:00.560 of us, we won't have to stretch and put forth 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:04.520 more effort. It becomes normal to us. We can get 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:09.120 comfortable with self pity, in comfortable with bitterness, comfortable with 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:13.079 the bad attitude. We have an excuse. I can't forgive Joel. 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:16.160 They hurt me too badly. I know I'm hot tempered, 0:02:16.200 --> 0:02:19.480 but that's how I was raised. I'll never be successful 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.760 with the mistakes I've made. I'm carrying this guilt and shame. 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.960 As long as you normalize it, that lesser version of 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.880 you will stay. You'll adapt to your conditions and learn 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.960 to function in the dysfunction. That's not who God made 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.799 you to be. There is a better version of you, 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:43.560 a healthy you, a free you, a blessed, confident, successful you. 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:47.919 Here's the key. The new you won't show up as 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:51.320 long as you're allowing the old you to stay. If 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:55.720 you're accepting the mediocrity, the self pity, the dysfunction that's 0:02:55.760 --> 0:03:00.000 going to keep you from your destiny. Getting well takes courage. 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:04.400 Being free will cost you something. If it was easy, 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:08.800 everyone would do it. It's going to cost you excuses, no 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:12.240 more finding reasons to justify it. It will cost you 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:15.639 some comfort. You have to be disciplined and be willing 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.799 to do the hard thing so you can see change. 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:21.760 It may cost you some friends and getting out of 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:25.920 limiting environments. If you're dealing with an addiction, you can't 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.080 hang around other people who are addicted. If you do 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:33.040 that long enough, the addiction becomes normal. That's just who 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:36.520 we are. Everybody's this way now. That's because you're in 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:41.480 the wrong environment. If you're always around people who are jealous, bitter, 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.320 can't pay their bills, that's going to become normal to you. 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.800 Where you lower your expectations and convince yourself that's who 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:53.080 you are, or you're better than that. You are made 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:56.040 in the image of Almighty God. He created you to 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:59.440 rule and to reign. There's a new you on the 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:03.680 inside God, ready to rise up, break free and reach 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:07.800 new levels. Now do your part and have the courage 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:11.600 to leave what's comfortable. The courage to get away from 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:16.560 people who are enabling dysfunction and limiting your growth. The 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:20.640 courage to have a new mindset, not live with insecurity. 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:24.159 Not enough, can't do it. Get rid of the old 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.760 so the new you can show up. John Chapter five. 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:30.120 There was a man that had been crippled for thirty 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:33.919 eight years. Every morning, his family would carry him to 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:37.520 the pool of Bethesda. It was known to have healing waters. 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.719 Once a year, when the angel stirred the water, the 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:44.640 first person in would be healed. The scripture says a 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:48.880 great multitude of sick people came each day, the blind, 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:53.800 the lame, the paralyzed. Everywhere this man looked, he saw 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:59.080 people just like him. With great problems, struggling. Some were groaning, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:03.200 some could and talk. Somewhere very old and about to pass. 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:07.120 I can hear the conversations people talking about all that 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:10.320 was wrong, hoping they can just make it through another day. 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:15.760 Was an atmosphere of defeat and disappointment. For thirty eight years. 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:19.720 That's all this man is known. What a limited, dysfunctional 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.880 way to live. But to this man, it was normal. 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:25.960 That was his world, That's what he did every day. 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:31.320 Your environment has a way of normalizing your condition. If 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:34.800 you're around people that complain all the time, complaining is 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.160 going to feel normal. If everyone around you is negative, 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:43.360 negative is going to feel normal. If everyone's unfaithful in relationships, 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:47.359 being unfaithful is going to feel normal to you. And 0:05:47.400 --> 0:05:51.880 the challenge is when something becomes normal, we stop seeing 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:55.320 it as a limitation and something we need to overcome, 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:57.880 and we take it on as a part of who 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:03.240 we are. Your environment is conditioning you how you were raised. 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.320 The people you work around, your community, they may be 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:11.720 good people, but perhaps they have issues. They're sitting by 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:15.760 the pool, so to speak, disappointed talking about what didn't 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:19.840 work out. Don't let their example become who you are. 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:23.520 They may be stuff they gave up on their dream 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:27.280 they won't forgive. But you're the exception. You're the one 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.800 God raised up to break out of the limited environment. 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:35.240 Recognize that's not normal, that's not who you were created 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.200 to be. This man had been going to the pool 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:41.640 for thirty eight years. He had his routine down, and 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:45.040 every morning his family would get him dressed and bring 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.120 him breakfast. Then they would carry him to the pool 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:51.280 and set him in the same place. He would talk 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.720 to the same people, friends he had known for decades 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:59.080 that were crippled and blind in great need. Every evening 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.520 his family had come make him up and take him home, 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:04.880 help him to bed. He never saw people who were 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:10.120 pursuing dreams, building their businesses, and passionate about their family 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:14.560 and thanking God for another day. He saw just the opposite. 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:19.760 His normal was dysfunction and defeat. One afternoon, Jesus came 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:22.920 walking by. He saw the man and went over to him. 0:07:23.160 --> 0:07:26.320 He said, sir, do you want to get well? That 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.080 seemed like such an odd question. Of course, he wanted 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:31.600 to get well, That's why everyone came to the pool 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:36.280 each day. But Jesus was asking something much deeper. He 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:38.800 knew The man had been there for thirty eight years. 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:42.040 He was saying, in effect, are you willing to leave 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:45.840 what you've become accustomed to. Are you willing to give 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:48.920 up that old routine that you've done for thirty eight 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.760 years and take on new responsibility? Are you willing to 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.760 get rid of the excuses? Because if he got healed, 0:07:57.120 --> 0:08:00.920 it wasn't just about his legs. His whole life change. 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:03.440 Nobody would have to carry him to the pool, he 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:06.200 could walk where he went. Nobody would bring him food 0:08:06.240 --> 0:08:08.880 each day and cater to him. He would have to work. 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.680 Jesus was saying, I want to change things for you. 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:15.920 I want to make it much better. But it's going 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:19.080 to cost you something. It's going to take courage to 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:22.560 get well. You can't go back to the pool what 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:25.480 you've been used to. You can't hang around those same 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:30.680 friends each day. They're dysfunctional. That's not you anymore. Getting 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:34.760 well means you have to make changes. But some people 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:39.679 choose to stay at the pool because it's comfortable. The insecurity, 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:43.240 they're not good enough, the guilt, they know it's limiting them, 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:48.320 but it's familiar, it's what they're used to. Change requires effort, 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:52.120 it's not just God snapping his fingers, healing and freeing. 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.480 There are things that we have to be willing to do. 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:58.439 Some people stay at the pool of compromise, bad habits. 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:00.720 I know these friends are not good for me, Joel, 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:02.560 but I don't want to have to find new friends. 0:09:02.600 --> 0:09:05.800 I like them. Do you want to get well? Getting 0:09:05.840 --> 0:09:10.240 well will disrupt old patterns. Getting well means you can't 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:13.480 rely on excuses. I'm this way because of what they 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.959 did to me, because of what I didn't get. Excuses 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:20.280 will keep you at the pool. Quit blaming people, blaming 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:24.000 your boss, blaming your government. Nothing that's happened to you 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:27.560 has stopped your purpose. It may not have been fair, 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.360 but God saw it. He knows how to make it 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.319 up to you, how to give you beauty for those ashes. 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.880 But you can't stay at the pool nursing your wounds, 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:41.520 thinking about who did you wrong, reliving the hurt. You 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:44.600 can't change any of that that's in the past. The 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:55.560 question is do you want to get well? Do you 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.680 want to see God pay you back? Then you can't 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:01.680 stay at the pool of self pace, letting the chip 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:06.080 on your shoulder, the bitterness, the unforgiveness, become normal to you. 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:09.679 You may have a good reason, a good excuse. Look 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:13.840 what happened when you get well. The excuses go away. 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.640 No more people to blame, no more reason to shrink 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:21.200 back and live intimidating, no more reason to be sour 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:26.520 and critical. There's new responsibility to getting well, being free 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:30.400 and whome. Jesus asked the man a very simple question, 0:10:30.920 --> 0:10:33.720 Do you want to get well? Yes or no? Seem 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.080 like an easy answer. This is a no brainer. Yes, 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:39.440 I want to get well. I don't want to go 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:43.880 back to that pool another day. But after thirty eight years, 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:49.319 strongholds can form in our mind. We resist change because 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:52.880 things have become so normal and so routine. Instead of 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:56.080 answering with faith and confidence, yes, I want to get well, 0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.199 the man said, Sir, I don't have anybody to help me. 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.920 Every time the angel'll come, somebody gets in before me. 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:07.720 Excuses will keep you from getting well. Telling God what 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.400 you don't have, what you can't do, that's going to 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.960 keep you at the pool. God isn't asking you to 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.960 heal yourself. He's asking are you willing to deal with 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:21.120 the changes when he takes you to a higher level? 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.360 Will you not go back to that pool and stay 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:28.720 in dysfunction, Will you quit making excuses to not pursue 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:32.960 your destiny. This man was known as the crippled man 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:36.280 by the pool. We don't have his name in the scripture. 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:40.040 His whole identity was on what he had been through. 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.520 If Jesus healed him, he'd have to be willing to 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:47.120 change his identity. He'd no longer be the crippled man, 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:51.600 no longer have people feeling sorry for him, catering to him, 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:55.840 having all that attention because what he'd been through. Some 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.760 people become known by the hurts, the loss, the bad 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:03.480 thing instead have happened to them. It becomes their identity. 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:06.839 It's a victim mindset. Man. I went to a bad 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:10.360 break up Joel my company let me go. It wasn't fair. 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:13.840 I lost a loved one. If you're going to get well, 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.200 you have to get rid of that old identity. That's 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:20.440 what happened to you, is not who you are. You 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:24.080 are still a child of the most tied God, valuable, 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:29.160 a masterpiece. We're in a crown of favor. Don't let 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:32.680 what you've been through distort who God says you are. 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.320 The enemy would love for you to live as a 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.680 victim and always had that on the forefront of your mind, 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.679 where you're bittering, you have a chip on your shoulder, 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:45.720 not expecting anything good. No God is asking you today, 0:12:46.360 --> 0:12:48.800 do you want to get well? It's going to cost 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:52.320 you something, no more finding reasons to stay at the 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:56.120 pool and why you can't be successful. It'll cost you 0:12:56.160 --> 0:12:59.800 the wrong identity. You have to give up, the defeated you, 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:04.040 that hurt you, the not good enough you. It'll cost 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:08.000 you being comfortable, staying in your routine where it's safe, 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:13.160 the same friends, the same environment dislimiting you. You can't 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:16.520 stay at the pool and reach your destiny. The pool 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.839 was a place of healing. It's not your permanent home. 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.199 One reason Jesus asked the crippled man, do you want 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:25.680 to get well? Is he wanted to know if I 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.600 heal you, are you gonna stay at this fool? Are 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.240 you gonna get the same mindset? Are you gonna go 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:34.679 out and fulfill your purpose and step into the greatness 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.839 that I put in you? See, the Israelites had been 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:42.640 in slavery for four hundred years, mistreated and taken advantage of. 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:45.760 They were at the pools, so to speak. All they 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.320 had known was struggle and hardship. Well, God sent Moses 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:53.120 to deliver them, and after ten generations they were finally free, 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.920 a dream come true. They left Egypt, headed through the 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:00.600 desert toward the promised land. They got next to it, 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:04.000 the land flowing with milk and honey. But the spies 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:07.480 came back, told Moses the people were too big, they 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:10.920 could never defeat them. Well, God had already promised them 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.439 the victory. But when they heard the negative report and 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:18.640 how big the people were, they were so afraid. They said, Moses, 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.520 let's go back to Egypt. Let's go back to being slaves, 0:14:23.040 --> 0:14:28.000 being oppressed, being told what to do. That's how powerful 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.360 wrong mindsets are. Who would want to go back to 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:33.960 being a slave. They could have said, let's just go 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:38.920 live somewhere else where there's no opposition, But slavery had 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.960 become normal to them, being talked down to, forced to 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:46.760 work long hours. That was their routine. As long as 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.240 they were slaves. They weren't responsible for where they lived 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:52.760 and what they did. It was up to someone else. 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.280 God delivered them, but they weren't willing to pay the cost. 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:01.720 They wanted to keep their old identity, Their same excuses, 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:06.480 same neighbors, same environment. They got stuck. Don't be like them. 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.880 It takes courage to get well. You have to be 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:14.200 willing to be uncomfortable for a season, to stretch and 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:19.680 face opposition without being weak and turning back. It may 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:22.840 mean you have to change relationships that are limiting your 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:27.560 growth and keeping you from flourishing. Perhaps this wrong mindsese 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.640 self pity. Look what I've been through. A chip on 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:34.680 your shoulder. Life is too short to live that way. 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:37.600 Do you want to get well? Don't answer like the 0:15:37.600 --> 0:15:40.720 crippled man. Come up with excuse it, Joe, you don't 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.480 know what's happened to me. The right answer is yes, 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:46.239 I want to get well, and I'm willing to change. 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.160 I'm willing to get out of my routine. I'm willing 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.520 to take on a new identity. I read about a 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.040 man that had been in prison for thirty one years. 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:58.920 He served his time and was finally released. Some volunteers 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:02.600 took him to a sheltered stay, gave him clothing and food. 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:05.320 They had a program to help him find a job 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:09.160 and get back into society. But a week later, the 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.080 man was sleeping on the sidewalk in front of the prison. 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.640 The guards came out and said, what are you doing here? Man? 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.080 You're free, go enjoy your life. He would leave. A 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:21.600 couple weeks later, he went to a grocery store and 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:25.400 stole some items. He waited outside for the police to come. 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:29.080 When they arrested him, he told the officer, I want 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:31.640 to go back to prison. I don't know how to 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:36.000 be free. We can get so accustomed to something, even 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.240 if it's not good for us, that we don't want 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.360 to change. It's easy for us as an outsider to 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.680 see it. Man, don't go back to prison. But sometimes 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:48.320 you can't see it yourself. You have to get honest 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:52.160 and ask God to help you to see any areas 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:56.360 where you're self sabotaging, where you're letting the old use 0:16:56.440 --> 0:17:01.920 stay simply because it's familiar. Change. God will help you 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:05.399 break out of those strongolds. He'll help you break free 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:08.560 from negative patterns. That may be the way it's been, 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.960 But this is a new day. Freedom is coming. Heally 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:16.800 is coming. Victory is coming. But it's easy to want 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:20.880 to say at the pool because it lowers expectations. As 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.240 long as the man was at the pool, nobody expected 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.360 him to walk, or to go work, or to travel 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.200 or to help someone else. He's limited, he's at the disadvantage, 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:34.840 and people would comebine, I'm sorry you're going through this. 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:37.560 Can I get you some water? Do you need some food? 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.760 They'd cater to it. But if he gets healed, the 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:46.239 questions would change to what dreams are you pursuing? What 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:48.520 are you gonna do with the gifts God has given you? 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:51.640 Who are you gonna be a blessing to today? There's 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:56.679 a responsibility with being made well. No more excuses to 0:17:56.760 --> 0:18:01.679 be complacent, feel sorry for yourself the wounds. Now, I 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:04.080 know things happen in life that can kind of knock 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.280 the wind out of us. A sickness, a loss, a 0:18:07.320 --> 0:18:12.160 bad break. It's easy to lower our expectations, push down 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.040 the promises. A man, it's too late for me, joel 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:18.399 and I'm not worthy. I've been through too much. No, 0:18:18.560 --> 0:18:21.480 don't spend your life at the pool. You may go 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:24.480 there for thirty eight days to find some healing, or 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:28.160 even thirty eight weeks, but don't you dare stay there 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:31.840 for thirty eight years. God is a god of justice. 0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:36.280 He knows what's happened to you. He saw the disappointment, 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:40.000 the loss, the mistakes, the pool was a part of 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.920 your story, but it's not the end of your stories. 0:18:43.880 --> 0:18:46.480 Jesus didn't get upset with the crippled man. He didn't 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:48.919 berat him. Man, why are you making all these excuses? 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.000 He simply looked at the man and said, rise up, 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:55.160 take up your mat, and walk. But this man had 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:58.560 never walked. He could have thought, what are you talking about? 0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.119 Can't you see that I'm crippled. Just a few minutes earlier, 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:06.000 he was making excuses. But something shifted in his mind. 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:09.919 A stronghold was broken. He thought, this pool is not 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.720 my destiny. I'm made for more than this. He started 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:17.960 to get up. The scripture says, immediately the man was healed. 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:22.960 He rolled up his map and began walking. What's interesting 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:26.600 is Jesus told him to rise up and walk before 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:32.360 you was healed. Why is that? Healing requires obedience, Freedom 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.320 requires action? Do you want to get well? The real 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.480 question is are you willing to do what God is 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:42.920 asking you to do? Will you rise up and take 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:46.760 up your map? That may mean forgiving that person that 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:50.919 did you wrong, distancing yourself from people that are pulling 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.679 you down, or taking on a new identity, changing the 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:58.680 way you're seeing yourself, not a victim, not a failure, 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:04.160 not an addict, but a free, blessed, healthy, victorious person. 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:08.000 Getting well starts with you. You do your part, and 0:20:08.080 --> 0:20:11.040 God'll do his father This is what my father did. 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:14.960 He was raised very poor in a limited environment. His 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:18.840 parents lost everything during the Great Depression, dropped out of 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:23.000 high school to help on the farm. Poverty, lack, defeat, 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:26.200 that's all he had known. That was normal to him. 0:20:26.960 --> 0:20:30.120 But he's seventeen years old. He was walking home from 0:20:30.119 --> 0:20:33.080 a nightclub at two o'clock in the morning. He knew 0:20:33.119 --> 0:20:36.800 nothing about God. He wasn't raised in church, didn't have 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:40.000 any kind of faith background. But he looked up at 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:43.080 the stars and for some reason he began to think 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:45.600 about God and what he would do with his life. 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:50.320 The scripture says God chose us before we could choose him. 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:53.760 This was God saying, in effect, John, do you want 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:56.720 to get well? Do you want to fulfill your purpose? 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:59.200 Do you want to go places that you've never dreamed? 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:02.960 My father didn't know what was happening, but that next 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:05.399 morning he called a friend and said he wanted to 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:08.399 go to church with him. That day he gave his 0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:11.480 life to Christ. The first one in his family. He 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:14.760 felt this calling to become a minister, but he didn't 0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:18.600 have any training or experience, and he told his parents 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:21.120 that he was going to leave home and go out 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:24.480 and become a minister. They said, John, you don't know 0:21:24.480 --> 0:21:27.000 how to minister. All you know how to do is 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:29.000 work on the farm with us. You're going to get 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:33.119 out there and fall. They meant well, but they were saying, 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:37.080 you better stay at the pool. We're crippled, we're poor, 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:41.159 we're at a disadvantage. Daddy had a good excuse to 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:45.080 stay there. Poor was normal to him. A limited mindset, 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:50.200 low expectations. Don't think you can do anything significant. That's 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:54.520 all he has seen. He was comfortable, but he wasn't satisfied. 0:21:55.280 --> 0:21:58.480 He knew there was more in him. To get well, 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:01.359 he would have to break out of old patterns. He'd 0:22:01.359 --> 0:22:06.600 have to change friends, change his environment, take risk, stretch, 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:10.879 takes courage to get well. It's going to cost you 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:15.480 to reach your destiny. Playing it safe, living by the 0:22:15.520 --> 0:22:20.480 pool with low expectations, making excuses, that's the easy thing 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:24.720 to do. But God didn't call you, equip you, empower you, 0:22:25.040 --> 0:22:28.399 anoint you, favor you, so you could take the easy 0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:31.480 way out. You weren't created to live at the pull. 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:36.040 Rise up, take up your mat and walk. Rise up 0:22:36.080 --> 0:22:40.160 out of dysfunction, Rise up out of poverty and life, 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:44.679 Rise up out of addictions and compromise, Rise up out 0:22:44.720 --> 0:22:48.480 of self pity and bitterness. If you'll make that first move, 0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:52.879 you'll feel God's strengthen your legs, healing your body, freeing 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:57.080 you from addictions, launching you into your purpose. The healing 0:22:57.440 --> 0:23:01.080 is in the obedience, be willing to change. When my 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:04.399 father was seventy five years old, he asked if Victoria 0:23:04.440 --> 0:23:07.120 and I would drive him back to Paris, Texas. That's 0:23:07.160 --> 0:23:10.040 where he was born, and he just wanted to reminisce 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:13.240 and see some of the old sights. And we got 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:16.320 there and found the old well from the farm where 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:19.400 he was raised on him. We went into town and 0:23:19.640 --> 0:23:23.040 saw some people that knew one of his classmates. They 0:23:23.080 --> 0:23:25.640 told us how to get to his house, and we drove. 0:23:25.720 --> 0:23:30.720 There was this little shack with broken out windows, roof 0:23:30.840 --> 0:23:35.400 caving in the yard, was totally uncapt didn't look livable. 0:23:35.960 --> 0:23:39.359 We knocked on the door and this man answered, and 0:23:39.400 --> 0:23:41.800 he came out of the house and no shirt on, 0:23:42.200 --> 0:23:45.800 hadn't shaved hadn't combed, his hair looked very unkept. When 0:23:45.800 --> 0:23:48.159 my father told him who he was, and they couldn't 0:23:48.200 --> 0:23:51.359 believe they were seeing each other after sixty years. He 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:54.640 invited us into his house and never forget there were 0:23:54.960 --> 0:23:58.520 buckets on the floor catching water dripping from the roof, 0:23:58.760 --> 0:24:02.560 very dilapidated. My father asked what he'd done with his life, 0:24:02.640 --> 0:24:04.919 and he told how he had a job down at 0:24:04.960 --> 0:24:08.080 the boat docks for a while pumping gas, but he 0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:11.200 was laid off forty years ago and hadn't been able 0:24:11.200 --> 0:24:14.520 to find work, and how life had been very, very hard. 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:19.040 That day made such an impression on me. Here two 0:24:19.200 --> 0:24:23.840 men were raised in the same environment, same school, same poverty, 0:24:24.040 --> 0:24:27.320 same hardship. But my father went on to do great 0:24:27.320 --> 0:24:32.840 things pastor churches, raise his family, impact the world. This 0:24:33.080 --> 0:24:36.520