WEBVTT - It's a Setup 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:02.640 You and your dog are close, like watch each other 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:04.960 go to the bathroom close, But you could be even 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:08.880 closer with BarkBox. Every month, BarkBox brings dogs and their 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.639 humans together with original toys and delicious treatment. Sign up 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:14.880 now at BarkBox dot com. Slash iHeart. 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.119 No one likes to talk about money. Am I saving enough? 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:20.239 Can I buy a house? Am I paying too much 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:22.960 in taxes? Will I be able to retire? What if 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.600 you could unlock insights about your finances in less than 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.080 five minutes, with a clear picture of where you stand 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.880 today and where your money can work harder. 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It's time, Your time, not just to 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:06.199 go back to school, but to come back and move 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:11.039 forward with Purdue Global PURDUECE Online University for working adults. 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:15.160 Start your comeback at Purdueglobal dot edu. 0:01:15.760 --> 0:01:19.200 Welcome to the Joe lous Dean Podcast. Help us continue 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.760 to share the message of hope with those all over 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:25.880 the world. Visit joeloustin dot com slash give Hope to 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:37.160 give a gift today. 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.640 Well, God bless you and thanks for letting us come 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:45.400 into your homes. We love you, and if you're ever 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:48.120 in our area, please stop buy and be a part 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:50.960 of one of our services. These are the finest people 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:53.400 in all of Houston, Texas, right here at Lakewood, and 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:56.000 I'll promise you we will make you feel right at home. 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:59.440 I like to start with something funny, and one day 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.960 Jesus and Satan were having a contest to see who 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:07.760 was better with computers. After six hours of making spreadsheets 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.600 and designing web pages, a thunderstorm knocked the power out. 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:15.880 When they rebooted their computers, Satan started screaming, it's all lost. 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:20.280 All my material is gone, while Jesus quietly walked over 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.840 and printed his out turned it in. Satan complained, it's 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.720 not fair. He must have cheated. How come he didn't 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:33.080 lose his material? God smiled and said, Jesus Saves, say 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:36.200 it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:38.720 am what it says I am. I have what it 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.240 says I have. I can do what it says I 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:44.440 can do. Today I will be taught the word of God. 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:49.359 I boldly confess. My mind is alert, my heart is receptive. 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:53.400 I will never be the same. In Jesus' name, God 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:57.120 bless you. I want to talk to you today about 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:02.920 It's a setup. Everything in your life has been carefully orchestrated. 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:07.600 God is strategic. Before you were born, he laid out 0:03:07.639 --> 0:03:13.120 a specific plan for you. Nothing randomly happens, not just 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:17.000 the good breaks, the promotions, the times you've seen favor, 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:22.440 but even the closed doors, the disappointments, the betrayals. That's 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:26.120 all a part of God's plan. It may not make sense, 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:30.040 it wasn't fair, but God wouldn't have allowed it if 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:33.040 it wasn't going to work for your good. And if 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:37.880 you don't understand that nothing randomly happens, then you'll be 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:42.600 frustrated when things don't go your way, Upset because somebody 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:47.200 did you wrong, Bitter because a person walked away, when 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:51.440 in reality, it was ordained by God to move you 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:56.000 into your destiny. You are not at the mercy of luck, 0:03:56.720 --> 0:04:00.920 of fate of other people. The God who causes the 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:06.000 earth to rotate down to the exact millisecond, has ordered 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:10.320 your steps. Do you think another person can stop what 0:04:10.440 --> 0:04:13.880 God has ordered for you? Do you think a bad break, 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:18.560 a closed door, a jealous coworker can change what God 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:22.080 has spoken over your life. The people coming against you, 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:26.599 the negative circumstances, they are pawns in the hands of God. 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.320 The enemy thinks he's using them to hold you back. 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:34.320 The truth is God is using them to push you forward. 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:38.680 In the Scripture of Joseph's brothers threw him into a pit. 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:43.000 They thought they were stopping his destiny, but God used 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:48.280 them to push Joseph into his destiny. God ordained them 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:51.200 to betray Joseph. It was a part of the plan 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.839 that God laid out for his life. Without that betrayal, 0:04:55.560 --> 0:05:00.360 without Potiphar's wife falsely accusing Joseph, without him saf spending 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:05.560 time unfairly in prison, Joseph would have never fulfilled his destiny. 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:10.080 It wasn't random, it wasn't bad luck. It was strategic? 0:05:11.000 --> 0:05:15.400 Are you fighting what God has ordained? Frustrated because a 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:20.159 door closed, or bitter because somebody walked away. Without that, 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:24.520 you couldn't fulfill your purpose. The enemy didn't come in 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:28.120 and somehow take the steering wheel, and now he's in control. 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:33.640 He superseded God's plan. He overpowered the creator. He doesn't 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:37.720 have that kind of authority. The God who breathed life 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:41.440 into you, the God who has numbered your days, the 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:44.719 God who is for you and not against you, is 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:49.640 in complete control. You may not understand what happened. It 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:52.640 may not have been fair, But if you'll stay in 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:56.520 faith one day, you'll see, Like Joseph, it wasn't random. 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:01.039 It was intentional. It was a setup. God used it 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:04.880 to push you forward. But when we isolate a negative 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:08.279 experience and look at it on its own, it may 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:12.440 not make sense. If you have a large puzzle, sometimes 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.159 you'll find a piece that doesn't look like it fits. 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:19.360 You're sure the manufacturer has made a mistake. It's an 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:23.680 odd shape, a strange color, But when the other pieces 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.679 come together, there will be a perfect fit. The colors 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:31.240 will match, the edges will line up. Without that piece, 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:35.240 the puzzle wouldn't be complete. You may have a piece 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:39.240 to your puzzle today that doesn't make sense. You could 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.719 think God didn't ordain this. I lost my main client, 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:46.599 a relationship didn't work out, my child got off course. 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:50.320 This doesn't fit. You may not see it now, but 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:53.680 God is not through working. You don't know what he's 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:57.600 up to. You're looking at one piece like Joseph. You're 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:01.120 looking at the betrayal. What you can't see is the 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:05.440 throne is coming. Instead of fighting it being bitter, turn 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:09.320 it around. God. My life is in your hands. I 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:12.320 know your plans for me are for good. I may 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:16.280 not understand everything, but God, I trust you. I believe 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.600 you'll get me to where I'm supposed to be. The 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:24.160 scripture says God has ordered your steps, doesn't say he 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:29.080 has suggested them. Maybe this will happen, maybe that will happen. 0:07:29.440 --> 0:07:33.040 Your steps have been ordered. But here's what I've learned. 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.600 When God ordered my steps, he didn't check with me. 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:40.760 He didn't ask for my opinion. If he would have, 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:42.960 I would have told him. I don't want to go 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:46.000 through that disappointment. I don't want those people to talk 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:49.200 about me. I don't want that company to follow lawsuit 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:52.120 to try to keep us from moving into the compact center. 0:07:52.880 --> 0:07:56.640 I would have said no to all the difficulties because 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:00.360 I couldn't see where they were taking me. You can't 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:06.600 reach your destiny without opposition, without betrayal, without criticism, without 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:10.120 things you don't understand. When my father went to be 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.160 with the Lord, I didn't see anything good about that. 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.120 I lost one of my best friends, somebody I admired 0:08:17.160 --> 0:08:19.720 and looked up to. I wanted him to live another 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:23.560 twenty years. But it was that loss that pushed me 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:27.440 into what I'm doing today. On the other side of 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:31.760 the difficulty is a new level of your destiny. If 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:35.560 you'll keep the right attitude, all things will work for 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:39.280 your good, not some things, not just the good breaks, 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:43.680 the promotion, but even the loss, the disappointment, the person 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:47.640 that walked away. It wasn't random. It was ordained by God. 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:53.480 John chapter eleven. Lazarus was very sick. His two sisters, 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:56.800 Mary and Martha sent word to their friend Jesus to 0:08:56.880 --> 0:08:59.800 come to their house and pray for him. Jesus was 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:03.920 in another city. He waited four days, and Lazarus died. 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.040 There were all these people gathered at the house to 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:11.520 pay their respects and comfort the family. Then Jesus showed up. 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.520 He raised Lazarus from the dead. Most of the people 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.839 there were excited, and they believed in Jesus, but some 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:23.679 of them were cynical. They couldn't deny his power, but 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:27.640 they weren't for him. They rushed back to tell the Pharisees, 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:32.480 the religious leaders what happened. The main priest called the 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:36.559 council together, said if we let Jesus continue, the whole 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:40.760 nation will believe in him. Verse fifty three says from 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:46.160 that time on, the religious leaders began to plot Jesus' death. 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:51.079 Lazarus being raised was a strategic part in the plan 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:55.119 of God, It said into motion all these other events 0:09:55.400 --> 0:10:00.400 that eventually led to Jesus being crucified. That's why Jesus 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:04.280 waited on purpose for Lazarus to die. He could have 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:07.280 gone there sooner and healed him, or he could have 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.760 spoken healing from another city like he had done and 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:14.640 healed other people. But he waited for Lazarus to die 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:18.520 so all these people would be gathered. It would create 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:21.760 such a commotion a man being raised from the dead, 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:25.160 that the critics would go back and get the counsel 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.760 all stirred up. What am I saying what may look 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.160 like a crisis to us can still be the plan 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:36.920 of God. Mary and Martha were upset, weeping. They couldn't 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:41.160 see it at the time. That crisis was ordained by God. 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:45.679 Jesus being delayed was in an accident. Him not coming 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:52.360 when they asked was divinely orchestrated. Nothing randomly happens, even 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:56.600 the crisis, the bad breaks, the things that don't make sense. 0:10:56.920 --> 0:10:59.960 We can't see it. But God is still on the throne. 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.199 Thoughts will tell you it's never gonna work out. There's 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:07.439 no purpose to this. You just have bad luck. Don't 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:12.040 believe those lies. God is up to something. God is strategic. 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:16.079 Things are in motion right now that you can't see. 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:19.679 Behind the scenes. God's moving the wrong people out of 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.720 the way, lining up the right people, arranging things in 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:27.839 your favor. It's in the process of coming together. We 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.840 may not understand it all, but I can assure you 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:36.679 nothing is random. The delay was on purpose. The betrayal 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:40.040 was ordained by God. The person that turned on you 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.720 wasn't supposed to be for you. It may seem like 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:47.400 it's out of control, but God is still in complete 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.840 control the plan. He's laid out for your life is 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:54.920 right on track. Now, keep doing the right thing when 0:11:54.920 --> 0:11:58.800 you don't understand, Stay in faith when people betray you, 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.960 when the wrong thing is happening. Your time is coming. 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:08.760 What God ordained will come to pass. No person can 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:13.920 stop him. No bad break, no crisis, no people, all 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:18.080 the forces of darkness cannot stop what God has purposed 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.400 for your life. Now, you have to be so convinced 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:24.960 that God is for you that you don't fall apart 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:29.360 when life is against you. You don't get bitter because 0:12:29.400 --> 0:12:32.200 things didn't work out your way. You don't give up 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.240 on a dream because you had a setback. You know, 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:39.360 it's a setup that God has the final saying that 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:41.720 He didn't bring you this far to leave you. That 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:44.800 Him being for you is more than the world being 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:48.760 against you. The High Priest wanted to get rid of Jesus. 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:52.200 He started coming up with all these plans and all 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:56.439 these schemes. He needed somebody that would betray him, needed 0:12:56.440 --> 0:13:01.040 people that would falsely accuse him. What's interesting is God 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:05.320 didn't stop their plans, but he used their plans to 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:10.240 fulfill the purpose of Christ. God is all knowing he 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:14.560 has an advantage. He knew everything the enemy would try 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:18.040 to do in your life. He's already taken that into 0:13:18.120 --> 0:13:22.440 consideration when he laid out your plan. Now, he may 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:26.480 not stop every plot of the enemy against you. He 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:30.200 won't stop every bad break, every betrayal, but he will 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:34.360 use that to move you into your destiny. He didn't 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:37.880 stop Joseph's brothers from throwing him into the pit. He 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:41.160 didn't stop them from selling him as a slave. But 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.560 God took that into account when he laid out Joseph's purpose. 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.880 I can imagine God thinking, Okay, they want to sell him, 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:52.760 they want to make him a slave. That's fine. I'll 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:56.960 turn it to his advantage. I'll design Joseph's plan so 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:00.920 that Potter for his boss will like him. I'll give 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:04.480 Joseph the ability to interpret dreams, and then I'll give 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:09.120 the Pharaoh a dream that only Joseph can interpret. God 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:13.720 has designed your plan, knowing every plot against you. He 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:18.359 knows every bad break that will happen, every closed door, 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:22.920 every disappointment. And the good news is God's strategic plan 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:26.920 will override every plan that was meant to stop you. 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:32.120 That's why Isaiah said no weapon formed against you will 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:36.960 prosper doesn't say they want form. Judas will show up, 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:41.640 people will betray you. Injustice will come, but they want 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:47.600 prosper Why. God has taken into account their jealousy, their malice, 0:14:48.040 --> 0:14:51.800 their hatred, what they meant for harm. God has already 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:55.720 designed a plan to use it for your good. You 0:14:55.840 --> 0:15:00.640 don't have to live discouraged when negative things come against you, 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:05.200 you trying to pay people back, frustrated because of a disappointment, 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:09.920 Stay in peace. God hasn't all figured out. He wouldn't 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:12.480 have allowed it if it was going to stop you. 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:17.280 If Joseph's brothers throwing him into a pit was going 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.920 to stop Joseph's destiny, God wouldn't have let the brothers 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.920 do it. God held back the Red Sea. He could 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.960 have held the brothers back. God allowed it because it 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:32.920 was a part of Joseph's destiny. Quit fighting what God 0:15:32.960 --> 0:15:37.400 has allowed. Without that happening, you couldn't fulfill your purpose. 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:41.040 It's a setup. You may not like it, it may 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:45.320 be uncomfortable, but if you'll stay in faith, one day, 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:48.520 you're going to see what God was up to. Judas 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.280 went in and told the religious leaders that he would 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:55.240 betray Jesus. They were so excited. This was the big 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:59.400 break they were looking for. They didn't realize Judas was 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:03.120 a palm in the hand of God. Wasn't his idea. 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:07.600 God was using him to move Jesus into his purpose. 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:11.880 We give our enemies too much credit. They can only 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:16.200 do what God allows them to do. Judas couldn't stop Jesus, 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:21.120 his betrayal, his disloyalty, couldn't keep the plan of God 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:25.200 from unfolding. When people come against you, don't get bent 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.440 out of shape. They can't stop you. They think they're 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.760 hindering you. But like Judas, God is going to use 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:36.240 them to move you further into your destiny. But sometimes 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:40.240 we make mistakes. We bring the trouble on ourselves. We 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:42.840 get off course and do things we know that we 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:46.560 shouldn't do. But the beauty of our God is he 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:50.640 not only designed your plan knowing what the enemy would 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:53.720 try to do against you, but he designed your plan 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:58.160 knowing the mistakes you would make. God has taken into 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:02.840 account the times we would found, times we'd compromise given 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:07.919 to temptations. He's so merciful. He's already designed the plan 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:12.160 to restore us and get us back on course. God 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.800 told Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:18.200 tell the people to repent. Jonah didn't want to go there. 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:22.040 He got on a boat going the other way. He 0:17:22.119 --> 0:17:25.560 went exactly opposite of what God told him to do. 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:30.000 You would think he's done too bad. He stepped out 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:34.520 of God's plan. But on the boat a huge storm arose. 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:38.040 They were all about to die. Jonah admitted to the 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.679 crew that he was the problem, that he was running 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:44.000 from God. That's why they were having trouble. The crew 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.280 was so loving. They said, Jonah, thank you for being 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:51.560 so honest. Then they threw him overboard. This should have 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:55.359 been the end of Jonah's story. Out in the middle 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.679 of the ocean in a huge storm, but it just 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:02.960 so happened. Big fish was swimming by at the right 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:07.000 place at the right time, feeling hungry, and it swallowed 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:10.520 Yonah up. He spent three days in the belly of 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.199 the fish. On the third day, the fish came up 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:16.359 from the bottom of the ocean and spit Jonah out 0:18:16.480 --> 0:18:20.960 on dry ground. Hundreds of years later, Jesus would say, 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.199 as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:27.520 three days, so shall the son of Man be in 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:31.480 the heart of the earth for three days? Jonah was 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:35.480 a picture of Jesus. God knew that he would get 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:39.800 off course. He had already planned how that would foreshadow 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:45.040 what Christ would do. What am I saying? Nothing randomly happens. 0:18:45.680 --> 0:18:49.560 Your mistakes have been taken into account in God's plan 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:52.600 for your life. And I don't say that so you 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.760 can live loose good. I'm gonna do whatever I want 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:58.800 to do, Joah said, God's got me covered. No mistakes. 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:02.919 They cause heart, They cost pain three days in the 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.720 belly of the fish. That sounds exciting now, but that 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:11.040 was not a cruise liner. It was dark, dirty, smelly 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:15.240 seaweed all over his head. When the fish spit Jonah out, 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:19.440 the first thing God told him was go to Nineveh 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.399 and do what I ask you to do. God didn't 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.920 change his mind, but he gave him another chance. When 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:31.280 we make mistakes. When we fell, the accuser keeps whispering, 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:35.040 You're done. God is finished with you. You had your chance. 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.680 You'll never accomplish your dreams. No, get back up, Jonah. 0:19:39.000 --> 0:19:42.720 Your mistake is not a surprise to God. He's already 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:46.640 designed you'll come back. He's already laid out your new beginning. 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:50.680 Why don't you get back in the game. Get your fireback, 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:55.119 get your passion back, start dreaming again, start believing again. 0:19:55.640 --> 0:20:00.040 That mistake didn't cancel your destiny. God still has a 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:04.800 purpose for you to fulfill. When God told Abraham that 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:07.159 he and his wife Sarah were going to have a 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:12.080 baby in their old age, years went by and nothing happened. 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:16.320 So Abraham decided to help God out, and he slept 0:20:16.359 --> 0:20:20.119 with Sarah's maid. They had a son, a boy they 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:24.280 named Ishmael. They were so excited they finally had their baby. 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:28.000 God said, that is not the promised child. That's the 0:20:28.119 --> 0:20:32.159 arm of the flesh. That's something you made happen. Ishmael, 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:36.399 in one sense, was considered a mistake. He was the 0:20:36.520 --> 0:20:40.800 child that Abraham had out of wedlock. Now Abraham is 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:43.760 the father of our faith. You would think he would 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:47.119 know better. Surely this wouldn't be in the plan of God. 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:52.760 Four generations later, when Joseph's brothers threw him into a pit, 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:55.840 they were going to leave him there to die, but 0:20:55.920 --> 0:20:59.840 they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming. 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:04.720 They decided instead to sell Joseph to them. The Ishmaelites 0:21:05.080 --> 0:21:09.840 were descendants of Ishmael. What once was considered a mistake 0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:15.119 was actually a part of God's plan to save Joseph's life. 0:21:15.240 --> 0:21:19.080 Only God, in his amazing wisdom, can take what was 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:22.760 a mistake in one generation and use it to be 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:29.560 a blessing in another generation. Nothing randomly happens. Even your 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:34.280 mistakes are a setup. Why don't you quit beating yourself 0:21:34.359 --> 0:21:38.600 up for past failures. Quit living in regrets. Nothing you've 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:41.720 done is too much for the mercy of God. Let 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:45.000 that go. Start moving forward into the new things God 0:21:45.040 --> 0:21:49.320 has in store. Few years ago, Victoria lost her ring. 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:53.120 It was a diamond band that her mother had given her, 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:57.320 been in their family for several generations. Sometimes when we'd 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:00.320 go on a trip, Victoria would hide it in these 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:05.320 So for months we searched everywhere, every drawer, every cabinet, 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:09.480 every pocket. That ring was nowhere to be found. About 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:12.560 three years later, we were driving home late one night 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:15.760 from out of town. It was after midnight and I 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:19.200 was tired and ready to get home. Victoria said, Joe, 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:21.760 you better slow down. You're going to get a ticket. 0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:25.359 I was going about seventy five and the speed limit 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:30.520 was sixty five maybe fifty five. But there was nobody 0:22:30.560 --> 0:22:34.960 on the highway wide open well in the country. All 0:22:35.000 --> 0:22:37.240 of a sudden, in my rearview mirror, I saw those 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:40.920 flashing red lights. The officer came up to my window 0:22:41.000 --> 0:22:43.880 and I handed him my driver's license. He said, I'll 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:47.280 need your insurance card as well. Victoria opened the glove 0:22:47.400 --> 0:22:53.119 compartment and started looking. She found every document except our insurance. 0:22:53.760 --> 0:22:56.840 She ended up pulling everything out of the glob compartment, 0:22:57.359 --> 0:23:00.320 digging around in the back, maneuvering our hand here and there, 0:23:00.359 --> 0:23:03.560 and it's dark you couldn't see anything. Plus having the 0:23:03.640 --> 0:23:08.440 officer standing right there was nerve wracking. At one point, Victoria, 0:23:08.480 --> 0:23:11.679 digging way back there, found something hard down in the crack. 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:14.600 She kept digging and digging, pulled it out. It was 0:23:14.680 --> 0:23:16.800 the ring she had been looking for for three and 0:23:16.800 --> 0:23:21.240 a half years. She was so excited, so happy. She 0:23:21.320 --> 0:23:23.959 is over there rejoicing. Here I was about to go 0:23:24.000 --> 0:23:30.240 to jail. She ended up finding the insurance card right 0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:33.520 on the top. It was like God caused her to 0:23:33.640 --> 0:23:37.320 overlook it. I handed it to the officer. He said, 0:23:37.320 --> 0:23:40.840 are you that minister, I said I am. He said, 0:23:40.840 --> 0:23:42.760 if I come to your church, will you save me 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:45.159 a seat. I said, I'll save you a whole section. 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:51.880 He handed it back said have a great night. Sometimes 0:23:51.960 --> 0:23:55.480 what we think is a setback is really God setting 0:23:55.560 --> 0:24:01.040 us up to do something amazing. Even mistakes we may, 0:24:01.760 --> 0:24:04.119 God knows how to turn them and use them for 0:24:04.160 --> 0:24:08.640 our good. A few days before Jesus was crucified, he 0:24:08.720 --> 0:24:12.040 was in the garden of Gasimine late one night praying. 0:24:12.720 --> 0:24:15.120 He was so overwhelmed with the weight of what he 0:24:15.160 --> 0:24:18.040 was about to do, and under so much pressure that 0:24:18.119 --> 0:24:21.439 he swept great drops of blood. He said, Father, if 0:24:21.520 --> 0:24:25.400 you're willing take this cup from me but not my will, 0:24:25.800 --> 0:24:29.760 let your will be done. We celebrate what Christ did 0:24:29.880 --> 0:24:33.159 on the cross, that's the foundation of our faith. But 0:24:33.240 --> 0:24:37.119 the real battle took place in the garden. This is 0:24:37.160 --> 0:24:40.440 where he made the decision. Even though it's not fair, 0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:44.080 even though Judas is about to betray me, even though 0:24:44.119 --> 0:24:48.080 these people have mocked and ridiculed me, Father, I trust you. 0:24:48.600 --> 0:24:52.040 I know It's all a part of your praying. We 0:24:52.119 --> 0:24:55.520 all have these times when life isn't fair, somebody's come 0:24:55.560 --> 0:24:59.480 against you, you're fighting in illness, business has slowed down. 0:25:00.080 --> 0:25:02.320 This is where you have to do like him and 0:25:02.400 --> 0:25:05.520 say God, I don't understand it, but I trust you. 0:25:06.119 --> 0:25:09.120 I know you're in control. You wouldn't have allowed it 0:25:09.280 --> 0:25:12.639 if it wasn't going to work for my good. Don't 0:25:12.680 --> 0:25:15.879 get discouraged when life doesn't make sense. God is up 0:25:15.920 --> 0:25:20.000 to something. They crucified Jesus, put him in the grave. 0:25:20.119 --> 0:25:22.720 They thought he was done, but you know the story. 0:25:22.800 --> 0:25:25.679 On the third day, Jesus came out said, I am 0:25:25.680 --> 0:25:31.119 alive forevermore. God has the final say. What looks like 0:25:31.200 --> 0:25:34.920 a setback is really setting you up for the next 0:25:35.000 --> 0:25:39.560 level of your destiny. Jesus told his disciples, take up 0:25:39.560 --> 0:25:43.240 your cross and follow me. Sometimes we hear that and 0:25:43.320 --> 0:25:46.480 think that's going to be a heavy burden. People told 0:25:46.480 --> 0:25:49.520 me growing up, Joel, that's a hard thing to carry 0:25:49.520 --> 0:25:53.639 your cross. One day, my father had a dream. He 0:25:53.760 --> 0:25:56.879 was going through a difficult time in life. In this dream, 0:25:56.960 --> 0:25:59.960 he looked over and saw a large cross on the ground. 0:26:00.720 --> 0:26:04.040 It was made out of railroad ties, about fifteen feet long. 0:26:04.160 --> 0:26:07.560