Speaker 1: Hi, this is Joel and Victoria.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting
Speaker 2: the ministry.
Speaker 3: If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a
Speaker 3: blessing and share it with a friend.
Speaker 2: We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in
Speaker 2: your life. Now, God bless you. It's always a joy
Speaker 2: to come into your homes. We love you and we
Speaker 2: know God has great things in store. And if you're
Speaker 2: ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and
Speaker 2: be a part of one of our services.
Speaker 1: We'd love to meet you one on one.
Speaker 2: But thanks so much for tuning in today and thanks
Speaker 2: again for coming out. I like to start with something
Speaker 2: funny and I heard about this pastor. He was greeting
Speaker 2: people in the lobby after the service and he saw
Speaker 2: this man that he hadn't seen in a long long time.
Speaker 2: He pulled him aside and said, sir, you need to
Speaker 2: join the Army.
Speaker 1: Of the Lord.
Speaker 2: The man said, what do you mean, I'm in the
Speaker 2: Army of the Lord. The pastor said, well, how come
Speaker 2: I only see you on Christmas and Easter. The man
Speaker 2: whispered back, I'm in the Secret Service.
Speaker 4: All right.
Speaker 1: Hold up your Bible, say it like you mean it.
Speaker 1: This is my Bible. I am what it says I am.
Speaker 1: I have what it says I have.
Speaker 2: I can do what it says I can do. Today
Speaker 2: I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess.
Speaker 2: My mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I will
Speaker 2: never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you.
Speaker 2: I want to talk to you today about taking steps
Speaker 2: to grow. We have to realize that growth is not automatic.
Speaker 2: There are many successful people, but they haven't reached half
Speaker 2: of their potential because they stopped growing. There's something called
Speaker 2: destination disease. That is, when we reach a certain goal,
Speaker 2: when we get our degree, when we get a certain position,
Speaker 2: when we get the house paid off, we just kick
Speaker 2: back and put our mind in neutral and we coast.
Speaker 1: Off of what we've already learned.
Speaker 2: We may make a little progress here and there, but
Speaker 2: we're really not learning anything new.
Speaker 1: We're really not growing.
Speaker 2: We're not becoming better in our careers, better in our
Speaker 2: personal life.
Speaker 1: And one of the reasons is.
Speaker 2: The way we were trained as a little child. We
Speaker 2: grow automatically, we get bigger, we develop physically mentally. We
Speaker 2: have parents, teachers, coaches that challenge us to grow early on.
Speaker 2: Growth is automatic, it's just a part of our life.
Speaker 2: But the problem is at one point when we stop
Speaker 2: growing physically, when we get out of school, that growth
Speaker 2: is no longer automatic. If we're going to continue to grow,
Speaker 2: we have to take responsibility for our own growth. We
Speaker 2: have to have the attitude how can I improve? What
Speaker 2: can I do to make me better? We have to
Speaker 2: stir up that desire to learn. We should have a
Speaker 2: goal to grow in some way every day, a goal
Speaker 2: to learn something new every single day. A man by
Speaker 2: the name of Pablo Casas was one of the greatest
Speaker 2: cellists that ever lived. He started playing at the age
Speaker 2: of twelve. He accomplished things that no other cellist had done.
Speaker 2: He was known as the very best in his field.
Speaker 2: At the age of eighty five, he still got up
Speaker 2: early every day and.
Speaker 1: Practiced for five hours.
Speaker 2: One time, a reporter asked him why he still put
Speaker 2: so much effort in it. He smiled and said, it's
Speaker 2: because I think I'm getting better. He understood this principle.
Speaker 2: When you stop learning, you stop growing. When you stop growing,
Speaker 2: you stop living. Life becomes very routine. We lose our enthusiasm,
Speaker 2: we lose our zeal. Well, let me ask you today,
Speaker 2: what steps are you taking to grow? Are you reading books,
Speaker 2: listening to teaching CDs? Are you taking any courses on
Speaker 2: the internet, going to any seminars? Do you have any
Speaker 2: good mentors? Are you doing anything to stretch yourself? Friends,
Speaker 2: God's given you a gift. You have a treasure on
Speaker 2: the inside. One of our main goals should be to
Speaker 2: develop our potential. I read where the number one magazine
Speaker 2: in America, the best selling most read magazine is TV Guide.
Speaker 2: Nothing against TV Guide, but we should use our time wisely.
Speaker 2: Fifty percent of people after they graduate from school, either
Speaker 2: high school or college, will never read an entire.
Speaker 1: Book the rest of their life.
Speaker 2: It's because we view learning as a period of life
Speaker 2: instead of as a way of life. We think, I'm
Speaker 2: out of school, I'm done learning, got my position, I'm
Speaker 2: a partner in the firm, a manager at the office,
Speaker 2: pastor of a church. No, we're never supposed to stop
Speaker 2: learning today. There are so many opportunities to grow with
Speaker 2: modern technology. It's easy to increase and expand our thinking.
Speaker 2: Don't get stuck in a You shouldn't be at the
Speaker 2: same place next year in your career. In your finances,
Speaker 2: in your relationships.
Speaker 1: As you are right now, you should know more.
Speaker 2: If you work in the field of sales, you need
Speaker 2: to read books on how to communicate more effectively. People
Speaker 2: have gone where you're trying to go. Listen to what
Speaker 2: they have to say. Take courses, go to seminars. There's
Speaker 2: potential in you that has to be drawn out. A
Speaker 2: lot of times we're waiting on God to open doors. God,
Speaker 2: if you'll give me more favor, God, just give me
Speaker 2: more opportunity. But really God's waiting on us to develop
Speaker 2: what He's put on the inside. We have to tap
Speaker 2: into that potential. When I was in my early twenties,
Speaker 2: we were about to buy a significant amount of television
Speaker 2: equipment for the ministry, several hundred thousand dollars worth, and
Speaker 2: it was between two large manufactures. And the men that
Speaker 2: represented this one company was in his mid.
Speaker 1: To late sixties, a very.
Speaker 2: Kind, friendly man, and I had gone up to Dallas
Speaker 2: to see the equipment, spent the day with him, and
Speaker 2: I was about to fly back home to Houston, and
Speaker 2: he said, Joel, I'd like to fly back with you
Speaker 2: to just keep you company, and then I'll.
Speaker 1: Turn around fly back to Dallas. I said, no, no,
Speaker 1: you don't need to do that.
Speaker 2: I'll be fine, but he insisted, and so we got
Speaker 2: on the plane and he sat next to me. This
Speaker 2: man knew everything about me. He knew where I had
Speaker 2: grown up, he knew where I'd gone to school, he
Speaker 2: knew what my hobbies were. He knew all about the church,
Speaker 2: he knew how it got started outside of my family.
Speaker 2: This man probably knew more about me than anybody. It
Speaker 2: was amazing. I finally said, why do you know all this?
Speaker 2: He said, Joel, It's something I learned from one of
Speaker 2: the greatest salespersons.
Speaker 1: That's ever lived.
Speaker 2: He taught me, the more I know about my clients,
Speaker 2: the better I'll be able to relate to them. The
Speaker 2: more I understand where they're coming from and what their
Speaker 2: needs are, the better I'll.
Speaker 1: Be able to serve them. He said, Joel, you're in
Speaker 1: your twenties. I'm in my sixties.
Speaker 2: Think about how much better I can relate to you
Speaker 2: knowing what your background is, knowing what your hobbies are,
Speaker 2: knowing how you were raised.
Speaker 1: That's why he was.
Speaker 2: The number one salesperson in this huge company. He had
Speaker 2: made a lifetime of studying sales He told how he
Speaker 2: went to sales seminars at least twice a year. He
Speaker 2: had been doing that for forty years. He knew the
Speaker 2: emotion behind seals. He had taken courses on how to relate,
Speaker 2: how to communicate more effectively.
Speaker 1: No wonder, he was blessed.
Speaker 2: He was learning, he was growing, developing what God put
Speaker 2: on the inside. No matter what fields you're in, even
Speaker 2: if you're a stay at home mom, you need to
Speaker 2: always look for ways to improve to become everything God's
Speaker 2: created you to be. That means if you're an accountant,
Speaker 2: don't just settle there and think I've reached my goal.
Speaker 1: This is where I'm going to be the rest of
Speaker 1: my life. No, that's destination disease coming on strong, trying
Speaker 1: to limit you. Take steps to learn more.
Speaker 2: Go get your CPA license, get out of the box
Speaker 2: and learn something different. Maybe you work in the field
Speaker 2: as an electrician, as a carpenter, as a mechanic.
Speaker 1: That's great, but what steps are you taking to improve?
Speaker 2: I read where if a person will spend an hour
Speaker 2: a day on a certain subject, after three years, that
Speaker 2: person will be an expert on that subject. You need
Speaker 2: to find the area of your greatest gifting what you're
Speaker 2: good at naturally, and spend time increasing in that area.
Speaker 2: If you'll stay focused and learn a little more each day,
Speaker 2: a little more each year, before long you'll be one
Speaker 2: of the experts. You'll be a leader in your field.
Speaker 2: You need to develop your gifts to the point where
Speaker 2: your company cannot make it without you, or at least
Speaker 2: if you're not there, things don't run nearly as smooth,
Speaker 2: because if you're out for a week and nobody misses you,
Speaker 2: and sales are just as good and all the work
Speaker 2: gets done. I need to sound the alarm right now.
Speaker 2: You got to wake up and smell the coffee. If
Speaker 2: they don't miss you, they may figure you're not necessary.
Speaker 2: You need to kick it into a new gear. Produce
Speaker 2: more than you've been producing. Take courses to improve your skills.
Speaker 2: You got to step it up a notch. Ell Joel,
Speaker 2: I have a kind of a low level position. If
Speaker 2: I'm gone, nobody would ever miss me. Well, maybe so,
Speaker 2: but make up your mind. That is not where you're
Speaker 2: going to stay. Don't build a house where you should
Speaker 2: have a tent. That is not a permanent address. You're
Speaker 2: not supposed to live there forever. You're just passing through,
Speaker 2: keep growing, keep learning, do more than you have to do. Overproduce.
Speaker 2: Cream always rises to the top.
Speaker 1: You do your best.
Speaker 2: Each day, and you're going to get noticed. That's what
Speaker 2: it says in Proverbs twenty two twenty nine.
Speaker 1: Do you see a.
Speaker 2: Person skilled in their work, they will stand before great men,
Speaker 2: your people. That's saying if you will be diligent to
Speaker 2: develop the gifts that God's given you and be your
Speaker 2: best every day, then promotion is coming your way. Well,
Speaker 2: you say, my supervisor has ten years seniority on me,
Speaker 2: They're not going anywhere.
Speaker 1: There's no room for me to increase.
Speaker 2: No, if you outperform them, if you outgrow them, if
Speaker 2: you know more than them. God says, your gifts will
Speaker 2: make room for you. It may take a year, it
Speaker 2: may take five.
Speaker 1: Years, but new doors are going to open.
Speaker 2: You don't have to worry about who's in front of
Speaker 2: you and who's blocking you and why it's not going
Speaker 2: to happen. God is in complete control. Don't get discouraged
Speaker 2: and think, well, this isn't for me today. There's no
Speaker 2: room for me to increase. No, kick your learning into
Speaker 2: a new gear. You're not working under people, you're working
Speaker 2: under God.
Speaker 1: And you don't know.
Speaker 2: God may not want you to have that supervisor's position.
Speaker 2: That may be too low for you. God may want
Speaker 2: to thrust you far ahead of that and put you
Speaker 2: at a.
Speaker 1: Whole new level. I know people right.
Speaker 2: Now that used to be former receptionists, they used to
Speaker 2: answer the phone today that are running multimillion dollar corporations.
Speaker 1: What am I saying?
Speaker 2: Develop your skills, don't stop growing, don't stop learning. Well, Joel,
Speaker 2: I'm doing as good as my coworkers.
Speaker 1: I'm doing as good as.
Speaker 2: Everybody else in my department. No, you're not supposed to
Speaker 2: be like everybody else.
Speaker 1: That thinking will limit you. That'll convince you to just
Speaker 1: settle where you are. We're supposed to be a cut above.
Speaker 1: We should be so excellent.
Speaker 2: So productive, so filled with wisdom and insight that when
Speaker 2: you're not at work, people say, man, I can't wait
Speaker 2: till they get back.
Speaker 1: This office is practically falling apart.
Speaker 2: Let me tell you a way that you can always
Speaker 2: be missed, and that is if you will learn to
Speaker 2: be a problem solver. Don't go to your boss or
Speaker 2: your supervisor and say, well, we got a problem over here,
Speaker 2: and this person is about to quit, and this manager's mad.
Speaker 2: This department is in this array. Bob cursed out Larry yesterday.
Speaker 2: Bill's never on time, nobody paid the taxes last month.
Speaker 1: What would you like me to do?
Speaker 2: No, don't present problems, present solutions. I know as an
Speaker 2: employer one of the main things we are looking for
Speaker 2: is people that can solve problems. Anybody can present problems.
Speaker 2: My nine year old daughter can come tell me, Daddy.
Speaker 1: The house is on fire. That's easy.
Speaker 2: But I want somebody that will not only tell me
Speaker 2: the house is on fire, but the fire department's on
Speaker 2: the way, and we got everybody out safely, and I called.
Speaker 1: The insurance company. They'll be here tomorrow. And here's a
Speaker 1: hotel to stay in, here's a car to drive. What's
Speaker 1: my point?
Speaker 2: If you want to be invaluable to your organization, be
Speaker 2: a problem solver, present solutions, or at least several different options.
Speaker 2: I have four or five main managers that helped me
Speaker 2: here over the last nine years. I cannot remember one
Speaker 2: time that they've ever come to me and said, Joel,
Speaker 2: we've got a problem.
Speaker 1: We don't know what to do.
Speaker 2: No, even if they don't know what to do, they're
Speaker 2: not gonna tell me they're going to act like they do.
Speaker 2: This is an area that we can all improve in.
Speaker 2: Become more solution oriented and not problem oriented. Even in
Speaker 2: your personal life. Don't go to your spouse and say,
Speaker 2: here's a problem.
Speaker 1: What are you going to do?
Speaker 2: No, if you ever present a problem, follow it up
Speaker 2: by presenting a solution. I mean, we've had employees in
Speaker 2: the past when they went on vacation, we had a
Speaker 2: big celebration.
Speaker 1: Thank god they're gone for a week. We can finally
Speaker 1: quit hearing about what's wrong, what's not. Don't let that
Speaker 1: be you present solutions. Hope they're not here today.
Speaker 2: What are you doing to improve so you can go
Speaker 2: to the next level. Can you take a course that
Speaker 2: would give you an advantage? You got to stay on
Speaker 2: the offensive. Well, Joel, I got my degree, I got
Speaker 2: my certification, I got my license. Now do you realize
Speaker 2: how many degrees are outdated in as little as five years?
Speaker 1: The world has changed so fast.
Speaker 2: If you don't have this attitude to continue to learn,
Speaker 2: to take steps to grow, then you can be left behind.
Speaker 2: Some of you today need to be set free from
Speaker 2: destination disease. You've reached a certain level, but you've stopped growing.
Speaker 2: You need to break out of that box and learn
Speaker 2: something new. Will Rogers said, even if you're on the
Speaker 2: right track, if you sit down.
Speaker 1: Eventually you'll get run over.
Speaker 2: And if you're not taking steps to grow, don't be
Speaker 2: surprised if somebody comes along and takes a promotion that
Speaker 2: belongs to you. Well, bless God, nobody's going to get
Speaker 2: my promotion, Joe. Know, if you're not prepared, if you're
Speaker 2: not developing what God's put on the inside, you can
Speaker 2: miss out on what rightfully.
Speaker 1: Belongs to you.
Speaker 2: The good news is it's not too late to start.
Speaker 2: You can become everything God's created you to be. Now,
Speaker 2: I want to challenge you to develop a personal growth
Speaker 2: plan for your life.
Speaker 1: You need a specific plan that shows how you're going
Speaker 1: to grow. Word words.
Speaker 2: These are the steps I'm going to take each day
Speaker 2: to improve to get better. Not something vague, Well, maybe
Speaker 2: I'll read a book ever once in a while. No,
Speaker 2: it needs to be a definite plan. It's not going
Speaker 2: to happen automatically. You've got to put it into place.
Speaker 2: Let me give you some ideas. Driving to work, instead
Speaker 2: of listening to the radio, listen to good teaching CDs,
Speaker 2: listen to training materials, things that are going to improve
Speaker 2: you in your field, things that are going to give
Speaker 2: you more knowledge. The average American spends three hundred hours
Speaker 2: a year in their car.
Speaker 1: You can turn your car into a university.
Speaker 2: That's valuable time. Take advantage of it. Or how bad
Speaker 2: at the gym when you're working out, make sure you
Speaker 2: have good information going into you have. People tell me
Speaker 2: all the time. Listen to you while I run. Listen
Speaker 2: to you taking my walk each day, Listen to.
Speaker 1: You while I work out. An elderly lady told me
Speaker 1: the other day, Jeel, I listen to you before I
Speaker 1: go to bed at night.
Speaker 2: You always put me right to sleep. She meant it
Speaker 2: as a compliment, but thanks anyway, mother. These are simple things.
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about spending an extra three hours a
Speaker 2: day studying. I'm talking about taking advantage of the time
Speaker 2: that you're not using right now now. I love the
Speaker 2: new technology with these podcasts.
Speaker 1: You can have messages downloaded to your.
Speaker 2: iPod to where you can listen to them anytime you want.
Speaker 2: This year, we will give away sixty million messages free
Speaker 2: of charge.
Speaker 1: All you've got to do is.
Speaker 2: Sign up and it'll come to you directly to you
Speaker 2: and you can listen to those messages again and again.
Speaker 1: That's a growth plan.
Speaker 2: When God sees you putting forth effort, when he sees
Speaker 2: you stretching and doing your part to improve, that's when
Speaker 2: you're going to see supernatural doors open. That's when you're
Speaker 2: going to see favor and promotion like you've never seen
Speaker 2: it before, including your plan going to a seminar at
Speaker 2: least once a year. They need to get around other
Speaker 2: people in your same field, listen to their ideas, expand
Speaker 2: your thinking. I'm constantly talking to other ministers, other leaders.
Speaker 1: Twice a year.
Speaker 2: We have a round table here with a couple hundred pastors.
Speaker 2: All we do is share ideas. Every person gets two
Speaker 2: minutes to share the most effective thing that's working in
Speaker 2: their ministry. I've learned so much and gotten so many
Speaker 2: good ideas. If you're going to continue to grow and
Speaker 2: be your best, you need to get around other people
Speaker 2: in your field and be open to learn. Another important
Speaker 2: part of any growth plan should be to have good mentors.
Speaker 2: Find people that have been where you're trying to go,
Speaker 2: people that know more than you, and let them mentor you.
Speaker 2: You need good people speaking into your life when you're
Speaker 2: around them, ask questions, pick their brain, find out how
Speaker 2: they got to where they are and how they think.
Speaker 2: You say, Joel, I don't need a mentor. I'm very successful.
Speaker 2: I'm doing really well.
Speaker 1: I think about this.
Speaker 2: Tiger Woods is probably the greatest golfer that's ever played.
Speaker 1: But do you know Tiger Woods has a coach.
Speaker 2: He has a trainer, people to help him with his swing,
Speaker 2: people to help him with his exercise routine, people to
Speaker 2: help him with his mental focus. If Tiger Woods needs
Speaker 2: a coach, being as great as he is in his field,
Speaker 2: surely we need a coach. We need mentors and people
Speaker 2: speaking faith into us. I read about this group of
Speaker 2: sales associates. There were several hundred of them in the
Speaker 2: room from the same company. The speaker asked them how
Speaker 2: many knew who the top three salespeople in the room were.
Speaker 1: Every person raised their hand.
Speaker 2: He then asked, how many of you have taken time
Speaker 2: to take those people to lunch and find out how
Speaker 2: they got to where they are? Not one hand went up.
Speaker 2: The point we're making is all around us. God has
Speaker 2: put people in our path to gain wisdom, insight, experience,
Speaker 2: but we have to be open. Look around you, today
Speaker 2: and see who's in your life that you could be
Speaker 2: learning from. And I say this respectfully, but don't waste
Speaker 2: your valuable time with people that are not adding anything
Speaker 2: to your growth.
Speaker 1: Life is too short to.
Speaker 2: Hang around people with little dreams, little goals, people that
Speaker 2: are not going anywhere. Let me tell you, destination disease
Speaker 2: is extremely contagious. If you hang around them long enough,
Speaker 2: it's gonna rub off on you.
Speaker 1: And this is especially important for young people. If you're
Speaker 1: still in school.
Speaker 2: High school, junior high, even college. You need to associate
Speaker 2: with people that inspire you, people that build you up,
Speaker 2: people that challenge you to go higher, not people that
Speaker 2: tear you down and convince you to stay where you are.
Speaker 1: Your time is too valuable for that.
Speaker 2: You may not be the most popular person in school,
Speaker 2: but twenty years from now, nobody remembers who the most
Speaker 2: popular one was. And those people that may be getting
Speaker 2: all the tension because they're a little wilder because they're
Speaker 2: wearing so much bleed, twenty years from now, the BLeague
Speaker 2: is not going to matter. What's going to matter is
Speaker 2: did you get a good education? Did you get a
Speaker 2: good foundation to build your life on. It's funny the
Speaker 2: science fair is never the most popular event in school.
Speaker 1: Being in the math club is.
Speaker 2: Never as popular as being on the football team. My friends,
Speaker 2: some of them, they made fun of people that were
Speaker 2: on the debate team when I was growing up, but
Speaker 2: it's funny now they work for people that were on
Speaker 2: the debate team.
Speaker 1: Make the most of what you have.
Speaker 2: High school, junior high those are critical formative years.
Speaker 1: There's so much emphasis on sports these days, and I
Speaker 1: love sports.
Speaker 2: I've played sports all growing up, and I know they
Speaker 2: teach us discipline and perseverance and teamwork, but we need
Speaker 2: to keep it all in perspective. Most likely we are
Speaker 2: not going to play sports for a living.
Speaker 1: I read where.
Speaker 2: One in five million young men will play professional basketball.
Speaker 1: I mean to depress you, but.
Speaker 2: If you're white, it's one in fifteen million. If you're
Speaker 2: my size, it's one in two billion. The average professional
Speaker 2: football career is three and a half years. And even
Speaker 2: if you do make it, and we have a lot
Speaker 2: of professional athletes here today, and that's great, we're all
Speaker 2: for you, but you still need a good foundation to
Speaker 2: build on. When you take learning and growing seriously, you
Speaker 2: get in school and you're serious about your education, people
Speaker 2: may call you a bookworm, a geek, a nerd. But
Speaker 2: don't let any of that bother you, because in a
Speaker 2: few years.
Speaker 1: They'll call you boss, They'll call your CEO.
Speaker 2: Doctor, senator, superintendent, pastor. I heard somebody say popularity is
Speaker 2: people liking you. Happiness is you liking you. Don't worry
Speaker 2: about who doesn't like you. Just make sure that you
Speaker 2: like you, that you're being the best that you can be.
Speaker 2: It's good to set growth goals.
Speaker 1: Where do you want to be in a year.
Speaker 2: If you don't set goals, you're probably not going to
Speaker 2: end up there. I read about this young man in
Speaker 2: high school. He was a star swimmer. His dream was
Speaker 2: to compete in the Olympics in nineteen seventy two. He
Speaker 2: was watching the Olympics on television and when he saw
Speaker 2: the time from the gold medal swimmer, he noticed that
Speaker 2: he only had to lower his time by four seconds
Speaker 2: and he would be able to compete.
Speaker 1: So he came up with a plan.
Speaker 2: He had four years to prepare, and he figured if
Speaker 2: he would train ten months a year for four years,
Speaker 2: all he had to do was lower his time by
Speaker 2: one tenth of a.
Speaker 1: Second each month.
Speaker 2: He broke it down into small increments, and he knew
Speaker 2: if he'd get a little bit better each day, he
Speaker 2: could reach his goal.
Speaker 1: He stuck with it.
Speaker 2: Sure enough, in nineteen seventy six, John Naber came home
Speaker 2: with four Olympic gold medals. The point I'm making is
Speaker 2: if you will develop a plan and to get a
Speaker 2: little bit better each day, you'll be amazed at where
Speaker 2: you'll be in a year, five years, twenty years. Right
Speaker 2: now that goal may look way way off, but all
Speaker 2: it really takes is a little growth, a little of
Speaker 2: improvement each day. I have a friend that grew up
Speaker 2: in a very poor environment. His father left the family
Speaker 2: at an early age, and he was being raised by
Speaker 2: a single parent mom in the projects. He was very insecure,
Speaker 2: and he had a terrible problem with stuttering. And through
Speaker 2: a series of good breaks and really God's favor, he
Speaker 2: got accepted into college.
Speaker 1: His dream was to become a journalist.
Speaker 2: But the first few days in college, a professor said
Speaker 2: to him, you're wasting your time.
Speaker 1: You stutter too much. You will never be a journalist.
Speaker 2: He was sitting on the front lawn of the college
Speaker 2: about to go home, so depressed, and this lady came
Speaker 2: along and said, son, what's wrong. He explained what the
Speaker 2: teacher had told him and how he was about to
Speaker 2: drop out. She looked at him very sternly and said,
Speaker 2: how dare he tell you that you're not going to
Speaker 2: drop out.
Speaker 1: You're coming with me. She was the dean of the college.
Speaker 2: She put him in a different class, and she got
Speaker 2: rid of that other professor.
Speaker 1: This young man.
Speaker 2: This young man had never met his roommate. They came
Speaker 2: from two totally different backgrounds. His roommate was raised in
Speaker 2: a wealthy environment, from a well to do home. Here
Speaker 2: he came from the projects. But God always knows what
Speaker 2: he's doing. When you have a desire to improve, to
Speaker 2: get better, God will make sure the right people come
Speaker 2: across your path. And that roommate, when he found out
Speaker 2: what his friend wanted to become, he said, you'll never
Speaker 2: be a journalist with your vocabulary like that.
Speaker 1: You need to learn some new words.
Speaker 2: He took him under his wing, and every day that
Speaker 2: roommate taught him a new word, day after day, month
Speaker 2: after month, without fail.
Speaker 1: He'd get the dictionary out.
Speaker 2: Taught him a word, taught him how to say it,
Speaker 2: taught him how to pronounce it. He would make it friend,
Speaker 2: use it back to him in a sentence, four years
Speaker 2: every day learning a new word. Today, that young man
Speaker 2: is an award winning journalist. He works for the major network.
Speaker 2: He continues to excel.
Speaker 1: I see him on the news all the time. But
Speaker 1: it all started by learning one new word a day. Well,
Speaker 1: what is your plan for personal growth?
Speaker 2: Are you doing anything intentionally and strategically to better yourself?
Speaker 1: If not, you can start today. Come up with the plan.
Speaker 2: It can be something simple like I'm going to get
Speaker 2: up every morning and spend the first twenty minutes meditating
Speaker 2: on God's word.
Speaker 1: Thanking God for what He's done.
Speaker 2: I'm going to listen to a teaching CD on the
Speaker 2: way to work at night. I'm going to turn the
Speaker 2: TV off a little bit earlier and read a book
Speaker 2: for twenty minutes. I'm going to hook up with my
Speaker 2: mentor twice a month and go out to lunch. I'm
Speaker 2: going to be at church every weekend. That's a growth plan. Now,
Speaker 2: as you take your growth responsibly, God will honor yours.
Speaker 2: I believe in the coming days, you're going to see
Speaker 2: new opportunities come across your path. You're gonna have opportunities
Speaker 2: to stretch, to take on new challenges.
Speaker 1: To go to a new level.
Speaker 2: But you've got to be prepared. Don't let destination disease
Speaker 2: set in. You have seeds of greatness on the inside
Speaker 2: just waiting to take root and flourish. Make a decision.
Speaker 2: You're going to learn something new every single day. If
Speaker 2: you will get in a growth plan for your life
Speaker 2: and stick with it and really focus on developing your gifts,
Speaker 2: then God promises your gifts will make room for you.
Speaker 2: That means he'll do for you what he did for
Speaker 2: that young man. He'll bring the right people into your life.
Speaker 2: He'll give you the right breaks, he'll give you the
Speaker 2: right opportunities. You'll rise higher and higher.
Speaker 1: And I believe and.
Speaker 2: Declare you'll see every dream, every desire God's put in
Speaker 2: your heart.
Speaker 1: You'll see that come to fulfillment. Amen, do you receive
Speaker 1: it today?
Speaker 2: We never like to close our broadcast without giving you
Speaker 2: an opportunity to.
Speaker 1: Make Jesus the lord of your life.
Speaker 2: Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord, Jesus, I
Speaker 2: repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make
Speaker 2: you my Lord and savior. Friends, if you prayed that
Speaker 2: simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in
Speaker 2: a good Bible based church. Keep God first place. He's
Speaker 2: going to take your places that you've never dreamed of.
Speaker 4: What if every plan you set, every habit you formed,
Speaker 4: and every decision you made became a pathway to see
Speaker 4: God move in your life.
Speaker 2: We all have hopes and dreams, things we're believing for.
Speaker 2: When you start the year in faith expecting God's goodness,
Speaker 2: you are setting the tone for a blessed new year.
Speaker 2: And we'd love to send you our twenty twenty six
Speaker 2: Faith for the Day planner. You can write down your
Speaker 2: dreams and galls and plus use it for your everyday
Speaker 2: activities and reminders.
Speaker 3: It's important to feed your faith on a daily basis.
Speaker 3: This planner it's not just a it's filled with scriptures
Speaker 3: and inspiration to help you stay encouraged and keep believing
Speaker 3: for what God has put in your heart.
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty six is your year to see the goodness
Speaker 2: of God in greater ways, let go of what didn't
Speaker 2: work out, and get ready for the new things God
Speaker 2: has in store.
Speaker 4: As our way of saying thank you for your gift
Speaker 4: of any amount this month, we would like to send
Speaker 4: you a copy of the twenty twenty six Faith for
Speaker 4: Today's planner. Each month features a fresh theme of encouragement,
Speaker 4: a guiding scripture to stand on, room to write your goals, prayers,
Speaker 4: and vision space for faith steps. Because faith isn't passive,
Speaker 4: it's active. A monthly QR code linking to a message
Speaker 4: or video to keep your spirit lifted. With a twenty
Speaker 4: twenty six Faith for Today Planner, you'll be reminded that
Speaker 4: living by faith makes room for God to do what
Speaker 4: only He can do.
Speaker 1: Break through in your.
Speaker 4: Business, God's healing touch. Loved ones returning to faith. Request
Speaker 4: your copy of the planner and step into the new
Speaker 4: year with fold faith, fresh hope, and daily encouragement. To
Speaker 4: strengthen your spirit and face every challenge with confidence.
Speaker 2: No matter what's happening around you, Faith can rise up
Speaker 2: in you.
Speaker 1: Keep believing and expecting a.
Speaker 2: Blessed twenty twenty six Victoria and I pray for you
Speaker 2: and your family every day. Thank you so much for
Speaker 2: your prayer and support. Your generosity is helping people around
Speaker 2: the world. As we finish this year, I hope you'll
Speaker 2: consider making a special year in gift to help keep
Speaker 2: the ministry strong. We so appreciate all the Champion of
Speaker 2: Hope partners.
Speaker 1: For your monthly support. We wish you and your family
Speaker 1: a very merry Christmas. Until we see you next time.
Speaker 1: May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Speaker 4: Be sure to request your copy of the twenty twenty
Speaker 4: six Faith for Today Planner. Visit Joelostein dot com or
Speaker 4: call eight eight eight five six seven Joel for a
Speaker 4: special year end gift. This mon we are also offering
Speaker 4: the Faith to Share.
Speaker 1: Bundle, Keep One, Give One.
Speaker 4: Give the gift of faith, focus and fresh hope for
Speaker 4: someone special in your life. You can also request the
Speaker 4: God's Word Work Study Collection. This empowering collection includes the NIV,
Speaker 4: the Message, Parallel Bible, a beautifully crafted leather bookmark and pen,
Speaker 4: and how to read your Bible and enjoy it, along
Speaker 4: with two planners. You can request these inspiring resources by
Speaker 4: calling eight eight eight five six seven Joel or logging
Speaker 4: on to Joelostein dot com today call or click anytime
Speaker 4: twenty four hours a day, stay organized, encouraged, and full
Speaker 4: of faith all year long. Request these resources today