Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to the podcast today. Want
Speaker 1: you to know that Victorian and I are praying for
Speaker 1: you and your family this summer and just asking God
Speaker 1: to bring you more peace and joy and victory than
Speaker 1: you've ever seen before. Know that God's for you has
Speaker 1: got you in the palm of his hand, and I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoy the message today. Well God bless you
Speaker 1: always our joy to come into your homes. We loved
Speaker 1: you and we know God has great things in story.
Speaker 1: If you're in our area, I hope you'll stop by
Speaker 1: and be a part of one of our services. I
Speaker 1: promise you it will make you feel right at home.
Speaker 1: But thanks so much for tuning in. Thanks again for
Speaker 1: coming out today. I like to start with something funny,
Speaker 1: and I heard about this husband and wife. They'd been
Speaker 1: arguing and now they were giving each other the silent treatment.
Speaker 1: The man had to catch a flight early the next day,
Speaker 1: and he needed his wife to wake him up at
Speaker 1: five in the morning. Not wanting to break the silence,
Speaker 1: he wrote a note and put it on her side
Speaker 1: of the bed that said, please wake me up at five.
Speaker 1: The next morning, he got up at eight. He missed
Speaker 1: his flight. He was so upset, he went in to
Speaker 1: ask why she didn't wake him up, and he noticed
Speaker 1: a piece of paper on his side of the bed.
Speaker 1: He opened it up. It said, get up, it's five
Speaker 1: all right, Hold up your Bible. Say it like you
Speaker 1: mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it
Speaker 1: says I am. I have what it says I have.
Speaker 1: I can do what it says I can do. Today
Speaker 1: I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess.
Speaker 1: My mind is alert, my heart is receptive. I will
Speaker 1: never be the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you.
Speaker 1: I want to talk to you today about how God
Speaker 1: works all things for our good. And every person goes
Speaker 1: through disappointments and things that don't seem to make sense.
Speaker 1: It's easy to get discouraged and think, why did this
Speaker 1: happen to me? Why did my loved one not make it?
Speaker 1: Why did this person treat me wrong? Why did I
Speaker 1: get laid off? Had a man recently tell me how
Speaker 1: he lost his job after so many years, and he
Speaker 1: just didn't understand it. He said, Joel, I gave that
Speaker 1: company my best, was always there on time, I was loyal.
Speaker 1: It's just not right. We have to understand even though
Speaker 1: life is not always fair, God is fair, and he
Speaker 1: promises in Romans eight twenty eight that all things work
Speaker 1: together for our good. I believe the keyword is together.
Speaker 1: In other words, you cannot isolate one part of your
Speaker 1: life and say, well, this is not good. It's not
Speaker 1: good that I got laid off. It's not good that
Speaker 1: my child got sick. It's not good that my relationship
Speaker 1: didn't work out. Yes, that's true, but that's just one
Speaker 1: part of your life. God can see the big picture
Speaker 1: that disappointment is not the end. Your life doesn't stop
Speaker 1: because of one setback. That's simply one piece of your puzzle.
Speaker 1: There's another piece coming that's going to connect it all.
Speaker 1: It's going to work together for your good. My children
Speaker 1: and I used to love to make chocolate chip cookies,
Speaker 1: and we'd been doing it so long, since they were
Speaker 1: two or three years old. We didn't even have to
Speaker 1: look at the directions anymore. We knew exactly what they took.
Speaker 1: So Jonathan would go get the brown sugar and the eggs,
Speaker 1: and Alexander would grab the flour, the bacon, soda, the vanilla.
Speaker 1: I'd get the bowls and the mixer. We were very
Speaker 1: precise to put in the exact right amount and the
Speaker 1: exact order it was called for. You had to have
Speaker 1: separate bowls, and at one point you mixed the contents
Speaker 1: of the smaller bowl into the larger bawl. You beat
Speaker 1: one egg in at a time, and if you really
Speaker 1: want it to taste good, it's very important how much
Speaker 1: goes in and when it goes in. I remember one
Speaker 1: time we forgot to put the bacon soda in. I thought,
Speaker 1: no big deal, just a little tea spoonful. How could
Speaker 1: that matter in such a large bowl. But when we
Speaker 1: got those cookies out, they were as flat as could be.
Speaker 1: They didn't rise one bit. They were tasteless. Nobody would
Speaker 1: eat them. It was like something Victoria had cooked. I know.
Speaker 1: I got to go out to eat today. Victoria's a
Speaker 1: great cook. She is a master of the microwave. What
Speaker 1: was the problem with our cookies? An ingredient was left out?
Speaker 1: A small amount made a huge difference. And some people
Speaker 1: are bitter on life because they haven't waited for all
Speaker 1: their pieces to come together. God has promised a great
Speaker 1: plan for you. He has predestined you to live in victory.
Speaker 1: And when things happen that you don't understand things that
Speaker 1: don't make sense. Don't get stuck there. God has some
Speaker 1: more ingredients come in your way. You may feel like
Speaker 1: your life is kind of flat today. Flatten your finances,
Speaker 1: flatten your career, flatten your marriage. But all God has
Speaker 1: to do is add some of his bacon soda that'll
Speaker 1: cause you to rise to a new level. You've probably
Speaker 1: seen that chef on television, Chef Emerald. When he adds
Speaker 1: an ingredient, he always says, bam. Just imagine God puts
Speaker 1: a little bit of favor BAM, A healing BAM, a
Speaker 1: good break BAM. Some of you are lonely. All God
Speaker 1: has to do is BAM, a divine connection. Have you're
Speaker 1: at odds with the child? BAM, supernatural restoration A. I
Speaker 1: don't know about you, but I'm expecting some bams in
Speaker 1: my life. I'm expecting God to add the right ingredients.
Speaker 1: That means the right people, the right opportunities, the right
Speaker 1: breaks at just the right time. You may have had
Speaker 1: some disappointments. Life may not have treated you fair, but
Speaker 1: you wouldn't be alive if God didn't have another victory
Speaker 1: in your future. That setback was not the end. That
Speaker 1: breakup you went through years ago. It may not have
Speaker 1: made sense, but there's another piece coming that's gonna pull
Speaker 1: it all together. Don't be impatient. It's not over until
Speaker 1: God says it's over. And the fact is we all
Speaker 1: have things that if we isolate them, we don't understand.
Speaker 1: But if you will just keep pressing forward, one day
Speaker 1: you will look back and see how it all played
Speaker 1: into a master plan that God had designed for your life.
Speaker 1: But the problem is when we isolate these negative experiences
Speaker 1: and we wonder why something has happened to us, it
Speaker 1: causes us to get better. And I know people right
Speaker 1: now that are mad at God. They're soured on life,
Speaker 1: no joy, no enthusiasm. It's because they went through a disappointment,
Speaker 1: went through something unfair, and instead of believing that God
Speaker 1: was still in control, believing that it was going to
Speaker 1: lead to a new beginning, they isolate that incident and
Speaker 1: they think, well, why did God let this happen to me?
Speaker 1: But everything is not going to make sense on its own.
Speaker 1: We have to have a deep inner trust, a confidence
Speaker 1: down in here that says, I know God has a
Speaker 1: great plan for my life. I know He is directing
Speaker 1: my steps. And even though I may not understand this,
Speaker 1: I know it's not a surprise to God, and somehow,
Speaker 1: some way, He's gonna work it out to my advantage.
Speaker 1: Imagine one day we decided we don't have time to
Speaker 1: make the chocolate chip cookies. Let's just get the ingredients
Speaker 1: out and eat them separately. Jonathan, go ahead, you start.
Speaker 1: Here's a cup of brown sugar. Here's a teaspoon of
Speaker 1: vanilla to wash it down with. Here's a raw egg.
Speaker 1: Here's your two cups of flour. Now, Jonathan, you officially
Speaker 1: have chocolate chip cookies on the inside. Somehow it's just
Speaker 1: not the same. The key is it all works together.
Speaker 1: It's got to be just the right mix, put in
Speaker 1: just at the right time if it's really gonna taste good.
Speaker 1: In the same way, you can't isolate one part of
Speaker 1: your life and think, oh, this doesn't taste good. My
Speaker 1: life is sour, Joel. I went through a divorce, or
Speaker 1: I lost a loved one that was so close to me.
Speaker 1: I started a business that didn't make it. I've been
Speaker 1: through so much. No, that's just one ingredient. It's not
Speaker 1: supposed to taste good by itself. It's got to be
Speaker 1: mixed together. When you go through disappointments, when your in
Speaker 1: slow seasons, don't get discouraged. All your ingredients are not
Speaker 1: in yet. Remember a little bit of bacon soda can
Speaker 1: make a huge difference. That means just a little break,
Speaker 1: Just meeting one new person, just getting one new idea,
Speaker 1: just one touch of God's favor can turn the sour
Speaker 1: into sweet, the sorrow into joy, the morning into dancing.
Speaker 1: I read about a young man. He wasn't wanted by
Speaker 1: his parents. He was given up for adoption at six
Speaker 1: weeks of age, and when he turned two, he developed
Speaker 1: a mysterious illness that kept him from growing properly. First
Speaker 1: they thought it was something like cystic fibrosis, they rule
Speaker 1: that out. For six years, he was in and out
Speaker 1: of the hospitals trying to find what was wrong. Eventually
Speaker 1: he got a little better started growing, but he was
Speaker 1: still very small. His dream in school was to play
Speaker 1: sports baseball, basketball, football, but he was way too small
Speaker 1: to make matters where some of the kids bullied him,
Speaker 1: made fun of him, called him names. Didn't look like
Speaker 1: God had a plan, didn't seem to make sense. But remember,
Speaker 1: it's not over until God says it's over all. He
Speaker 1: needed was a few more ingredients. Being left by his
Speaker 1: parents being rejected. That isolated on its own is very distasteful.
Speaker 1: Spending years in and out of the hospital, that alone
Speaker 1: can be very discouraging, But that's not the end of
Speaker 1: the process. When God begins to add some of his ingredients,
Speaker 1: when he mixes in a spoonful of his favor and
Speaker 1: a cup of his goodness, and he sprinkles a few
Speaker 1: of his supernatural breaks, then all of a sudden, what
Speaker 1: was very distasteful by itself, mixed together with the right ingredients,
Speaker 1: becomes very tasteful. And even though he couldn't play those
Speaker 1: kind of sports, he knew that wasn't the end of
Speaker 1: his story. He knew God didn't make any mistakes. He
Speaker 1: started going to ice skating lessons with his sister. It
Speaker 1: wasn't long before the coach noticed he was an extremely
Speaker 1: gifted skater. Long story short, he started training for the Olympics.
Speaker 1: All the experts told him he was too small. You
Speaker 1: don't have a chance. You're just wasting your time. But listen,
Speaker 1: you are not who people say you are. You are
Speaker 1: who God says you are. Scott Hamilton went on to
Speaker 1: win every national and International Skating Championship for four straight years,
Speaker 1: including the nineteen eighty four Olympic gold medal. And in
Speaker 1: the natural, you may not see how you could accomplish
Speaker 1: your goals. You don't see how you could fulfill what
Speaker 1: God's put in your heart. But not today. All of
Speaker 1: your ingredients are not in. When we're making those cookies,
Speaker 1: our favorite thing is to put the chocolate chips in.
Speaker 1: That's what gives them the flavor and makes them look
Speaker 1: so tasty. Some of you today, you haven't had your
Speaker 1: chocolate chips put in yet. Why are you soured on life?
Speaker 1: You don't know what God has in your future. Get
Speaker 1: your joy back, your vision back. Quit dwelling on all
Speaker 1: your disappointments and why you went through what you went through.
Speaker 1: Gonna shake that off and have the attitude. I've had
Speaker 1: my flour put in. I've been through the mixing process.
Speaker 1: Now I know I'm close to those chocolate chips. I
Speaker 1: know just a few more ingredients, and God's gonna bring
Speaker 1: it all together and cause it to work out for
Speaker 1: my good. One time, when Moses was leading the people
Speaker 1: of Israel, they'd been traveling through the wilderness day after
Speaker 1: day without any water. They were so thirsty they didn't
Speaker 1: know if they could make it. They finally came to
Speaker 1: this river. They were so excited their dream had come true.
Speaker 1: They rushed over there to drink it. But when they
Speaker 1: tasted the water, it was bitter. They couldn't drink it.
Speaker 1: It was too sour. Have you ever come to a
Speaker 1: place in life where you thought it would be your
Speaker 1: dream come true? You thought you would have finally accomplished
Speaker 1: a goal, but all of a sudden something didn't work out.
Speaker 1: You spent years building a business, maybe even working there.
Speaker 1: You're ready to retire, only to find that it's not
Speaker 1: going to happen. It's not going to last. I talked
Speaker 1: to a young lady. She was so excited about having
Speaker 1: a baby. It was her first child, and she and
Speaker 1: her husband were getting the nursery already, everything prepared. But
Speaker 1: unfortunately she wasn't able to carry the child full term.
Speaker 1: She had a miscarriage. Those waters were bitter. In nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty one, our family was looking forward to having a
Speaker 1: big Christmas together. It was going to be a fun
Speaker 1: time of family and friends. But on December the eleventh,
Speaker 1: we got the news that my mother had terminal cancer
Speaker 1: and given just a few weeks to live. What we
Speaker 1: thought would be a season of celebration ended up being
Speaker 1: a very bitter season. That's what happened to these people.
Speaker 1: There was no water to drink. They were so thirsty,
Speaker 1: and they begin to complain to Moses. They got so
Speaker 1: discouraged they thought it was all over. But no, God
Speaker 1: still had a plan. And God told Moses to put
Speaker 1: a certain kind of tree in the water. And when
Speaker 1: he did, those bitter waters were turned into sweet. Now
Speaker 1: the people could freely drink as much as they wanted.
Speaker 1: What is God saying when life turns out bitter, when
Speaker 1: things seem unfair, I'm not at a loss. I still
Speaker 1: have an ingredient that I can put in that can
Speaker 1: turn your bitter waters into sweep. You may not understand
Speaker 1: why you went through what you went through, but don't
Speaker 1: try to figure it all out. Faith is all about
Speaker 1: trusting God. When you don't understand things, some people get
Speaker 1: so caught up on why God didn't answer their prayers,
Speaker 1: things like God, you could have healed my loved one. God,
Speaker 1: you could have restored my marriage. God, you could have
Speaker 1: kept me from getting laid off. Listen, here's what I've
Speaker 1: learned don't ever put a question mark where God has
Speaker 1: put a period. When something is over and done, let
Speaker 1: it go and move on to the next chapter in
Speaker 1: your life. It may be bitter, but God has another ingredient.
Speaker 1: There's something in your future that's going to turn the
Speaker 1: sour into sweet. I know a gentleman that worked for
Speaker 1: many years for a major newspaper. He was getting close
Speaker 1: to retiring, but at the last minute they had to
Speaker 1: let him go. Those waters were bitter. He understood this principle.
Speaker 1: He didn't get soured on life go around complaining. He
Speaker 1: stayed in faith, believing that God would open up another door.
Speaker 1: His dream was always to write books, and he had
Speaker 1: done a few here and there on the side while
Speaker 1: he was working as a reporter, but he never had
Speaker 1: to cur to really step out and do it full time.
Speaker 1: But not long after he was laid off, he got
Speaker 1: a call from a publishing agent asking if he was
Speaker 1: available to work on a major book with the well
Speaker 1: known author. He took that opportunity and today he's living
Speaker 1: his dream. He's doing what he always wanted to do.
Speaker 1: He told how if he had not been laid off,
Speaker 1: he wouldn't have been available. That agent would have never
Speaker 1: called him. What am I saying? God has another ingredient.
Speaker 1: When one door closes, God's going to open up another door.
Speaker 1: If you will stay in faith, it'll be a bigger
Speaker 1: and a better door. Now. I found sometimes like this, gentleman,
Speaker 1: if we don't have the courage to take a step
Speaker 1: of faith, God will give us a push to get
Speaker 1: us out of our comfort zone. Those bitter waters may
Speaker 1: be a blessing in disguise. No, it's not good that
Speaker 1: you lost your job, but it could be good if
Speaker 1: it causes you to stretch to the next level, or
Speaker 1: if it causes you to go back to school, go
Speaker 1: back to college. It's not good that you get a
Speaker 1: bad report about your health, but it can be good
Speaker 1: if it causes you to get back in shape. It
Speaker 1: wasn't good when my father went to be with the Lord.
Speaker 1: We prayed, we believed the waters were bitter, But really
Speaker 1: it was those bitter waters that forced me out of
Speaker 1: my comfort zone. That's when I really stepped into my
Speaker 1: divine destiny. And the symbol for the word the symbol
Speaker 1: for the word crisis in Chinese is made up of
Speaker 1: two words danger and opportunity. In every crisis and every
Speaker 1: loss and every disappointment. There's both danger to get bitter,
Speaker 1: to stay sour, to settle where we are, and there's opportunity.
Speaker 1: We can grow, we can step out in faith, we
Speaker 1: can stretch to the new things that God has in store.
Speaker 1: I've talked to a lot of people that went through
Speaker 1: Hurricane Katrina. They lost everything. I told them, you can
Speaker 1: accept the hand that you've been dealt, seeing this as
Speaker 1: an opportunity to meet new friends, to live in a
Speaker 1: new city, to have a new job. Or you can
Speaker 1: fight it. You can resist it, get bitter, live with
Speaker 1: a chip on your shoulder. The choice is up to you.
Speaker 1: There's both danger and opportunity in every crisis. There's a
Speaker 1: couple that's here every weekend, find people, faithful people. They
Speaker 1: lost their teenage daughter to cancer. We prayed and believed
Speaker 1: with them for many, many years, and she made it
Speaker 1: a lot longer than she was supposed to. But one
Speaker 1: day she went home to be with the Lord. As
Speaker 1: you can imagine, that was some bitter waters. They didn't
Speaker 1: understand it. Even though it was difficult, they committed it
Speaker 1: into God's hands. Today, that couple is a shining example
Speaker 1: of how God can turn the sour into sweet. Every
Speaker 1: time I see them, they radiate God's goodness. Whenever I
Speaker 1: meet someone that's lost a young person, they're the first
Speaker 1: people I think of. I always ask them to call.
Speaker 1: They went through a major crisis. I can't think of
Speaker 1: anything bigger. They face danger. They could easily be negative, bitter,
Speaker 1: angry people blaming God why did this happen? But know
Speaker 1: in that crisis, they saw the opportunity. They saw a
Speaker 1: chance to receive God's grace, and today they're helping others
Speaker 1: to make it through. God wants to show his grace
Speaker 1: through you. When you go through a crisis, and instead
Speaker 1: of getting bitter, you believe that God is still in control.
Speaker 1: You stay hopeful and believe that He's going to open
Speaker 1: up a new door. Then you, too will become a
Speaker 1: face of grace. You will not only see God's goodness
Speaker 1: in a greater way, but you will inspire others to
Speaker 1: keep moving forward into the good things God has in store.
Speaker 1: I love the way Job put it. Though he slay me,
Speaker 1: yet will I trust him? The reason Job had this
Speaker 1: unwavering trust was because he knew God was still on
Speaker 1: the throne. When we go through things that don't make sense,
Speaker 1: things that we don't really understand. We've got to be
Speaker 1: able to say with job, I'm not worried about it.
Speaker 1: I know God is still in complete control of my life.
Speaker 1: I know He's got me in the palm of his hand.
Speaker 1: This may look like the end, but I know God
Speaker 1: has a new beginning. These waters may be bitter right now,
Speaker 1: but I know God has another ingredient that's going to
Speaker 1: turn them into sweet. Weeping may endure for a night,
Speaker 1: but I know a secret joy is coming in the morning.
Speaker 1: The scripture talks about how all of our days have
Speaker 1: been written in God's book. He's already recorded every part
Speaker 1: of your life, from the beginning to the end. God
Speaker 1: knows every disappointment, every loss, every challenge. The good news
Speaker 1: is your story ends in victory. Your final chapter concludes
Speaker 1: with you fulfilling your God given destiny. Here's the when
Speaker 1: you go through a disappointment, when you go through a loss,
Speaker 1: don't stop on that page. You've got to keep moving forward.
Speaker 1: There's another chapter in front of you, but you've got
Speaker 1: to be willing to walk into it. Sometimes we get
Speaker 1: so focused on what didn't work out, why I went
Speaker 1: through that divorce, and why I didn't get that promotion
Speaker 1: that I worked so hard for. Listen, you've been on
Speaker 1: that page long enough, you've reread that chapter four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty times. Let it go and move into the
Speaker 1: new chapter God has in store. You may not understand
Speaker 1: everything you went through, but if you just keep pressing forward,
Speaker 1: not letting the bitterness take root, you will come to
Speaker 1: a chapter in your future that'll pull it all together,
Speaker 1: a chapter that'll cause it to make sense. Was talking
Speaker 1: to this couple not long ago. They have a son,
Speaker 1: and they've always had a good relationship with him. In fact,
Speaker 1: they used to work together, but somehow they got crossways,
Speaker 1: and now this son won't speak to them. He moved
Speaker 1: to another city. They don't even have a phone number,
Speaker 1: they don't know how to get in touch with them.
Speaker 1: So you can imagine they're just very concerned, very discouraged.
Speaker 1: I told them what I'm telling you. That is not
Speaker 1: your final chapter. There's another chapter coming somewhere in your future,
Speaker 1: is a restoration chapter. It may be a month, or
Speaker 1: a year, or ten years. But don't get stuck on
Speaker 1: that page. Keep praying, keep believing. That chapter will come
Speaker 1: to an end. The bitter waters will be turned into
Speaker 1: suite and you'll see that relationship restored. You gotta get
Speaker 1: a vision for it. You gotta let the seed take root.
Speaker 1: Some of you are ready to go to a new chapter,
Speaker 1: but you've got to be willing to let go of
Speaker 1: the old. What's behind you is not near as important
Speaker 1: as what's in front of you. Everything you've been through
Speaker 1: was to get you prepared for where you are right now.
Speaker 1: Those disappointments, those challenges were never meant to destroy you.
Speaker 1: They were meant to strengthen you, to build you character,
Speaker 1: to give you the fortitude you need to accomplish your
Speaker 1: God given destiny. You may have had unfair things happen,
Speaker 1: things that you don't understand, but let me tell you
Speaker 1: have come too far to stop.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: You need to dig your heels in and say, I
Speaker 1: may not understand it, it may not have been fair,
Speaker 1: but I am not getting stuck on this page. I
Speaker 1: know God has another chapter with my name on it,
Speaker 1: and that chapter is full of blessing, full of favor,
Speaker 1: full of victory. Our little daughter Alexandra used to love
Speaker 1: to put puzzles together, and when she was about five
Speaker 1: years old, every couple weeks we'd go buy a puzzle
Speaker 1: and sit down and work on it, and sometimes it
Speaker 1: would take us two or three days, and invariably we
Speaker 1: would find a piece of that puzzle that didn't look
Speaker 1: like it was gonna fit anywhere. We would try every
Speaker 1: option that we could see here and there, but still nothing. Finally,
Speaker 1: I would always think the manufacturer must have messed up
Speaker 1: and left a piece out, or somebody came at night
Speaker 1: and took it off the table, or the dog got
Speaker 1: a hold of it. But this piece is a mistake.
Speaker 1: It does not fit anywhere. But what's interesting, every time
Speaker 1: when we got the puzzle closer to being finished and
Speaker 1: more of the pieces came together, all of sudden that
Speaker 1: piece would fit perfectly into place. What was the problem earlier?
Speaker 1: All the other pieces weren't together yet. Some of you
Speaker 1: today you have issues that you don't understand, and you're wondering, Joel,
Speaker 1: if God is so good, why did my life turn
Speaker 1: out like this? Or why did I go through that divorce?
Speaker 1: Why didn't I get that promotion? Just doesn't seem to
Speaker 1: make sense. Yes, that's true on its own, but it's
Speaker 1: because you have pieces to your puzzle that have not
Speaker 1: yet come together. If you will stay in faith, before long,
Speaker 1: you will see how every setback, every disappointment, even a
Speaker 1: loss that was simply another piece of your puzzle, if
Speaker 1: it had not happened, it would not have connected you
Speaker 1: to the great things that God had in your future.
Speaker 1: Heard about this young lady. Her dad had had a
Speaker 1: heart transplant and he seemed to be doing well. Everything
Speaker 1: was going good. But several months later she got an
Speaker 1: unexpected call saying that her father suddenly had died. He
Speaker 1: didn't make it. She was in another city working on
Speaker 1: her master's degree. She immediately went to the airport, so upset,
Speaker 1: so heartbroken, and she was sitting there at the gate
Speaker 1: area with her head down, just sobbing and sobbing. She
Speaker 1: felt these loving arms put around her, and a young
Speaker 1: man said, ma'am, what's wrong. She immediately recognized the voice.
Speaker 1: She looked up and it was Kevin Costner, the movie actor.
Speaker 1: She told what was wrong and how her father had
Speaker 1: passed away, and he stayed there the whole time, comforting her,
Speaker 1: letting her know that everything was going to be all right.
Speaker 1: In fact, several times some of his people came and
Speaker 1: tried to get him to go catch his own flight,
Speaker 1: but he wouldn't go. He stayed with her until she
Speaker 1: was ready to board. Just as they were leaving, he
Speaker 1: mentioned that he was going to be back in that
Speaker 1: city a couple of months later filming a movie. He
Speaker 1: asked her to stop buying let him know how she
Speaker 1: was doing. Several months later, she was driving across town
Speaker 1: running an errand she had some papers to deliver for
Speaker 1: her company. Traffic was all backed up. When she got up,
Speaker 1: she noticed they were filming a movie over on the
Speaker 1: park area. Over there. She wondered if it was the
Speaker 1: one with Kevin Costner. She didn't have time to stop.
Speaker 1: She was in a hurry and didn't want to bother him.
Speaker 1: But when she was coming back from that errand, shed
Speaker 1: got in some more traffic. Looked over it was another
Speaker 1: part of a movie. This time she stopped. Indeed, it
Speaker 1: was the movie with Kevin Costner. She told the security
Speaker 1: guard to tell Kevin that the lady that was sobbing
Speaker 1: in the airport was here. Sure enough, they brought her
Speaker 1: right over to Kevin, and he was just as kind
Speaker 1: and warm as he was before, and offered her a
Speaker 1: place to sit and watch the scene take place. In
Speaker 1: a few minutes, an executive in charge of the production
Speaker 1: came and sat by the young lady, just being friendly,
Speaker 1: explaining what the scene was all about and how it
Speaker 1: all worked. Those two just hit it off like they
Speaker 1: were old friends. That night, the lady called her mother
Speaker 1: and said, Mom, today I'm at the man of my dreams.
Speaker 1: I met the man I'm going to marry. Sure enough,
Speaker 1: they started dating, fell in love. One year later they
Speaker 1: got married. Who would have ever thought sitting in an
Speaker 1: airport grieving the loss of her father would be a
Speaker 1: significant piece of her puzzle that God would use to
Speaker 1: connect her with somebody she'd spend the rest of her
Speaker 1: life with. What am I saying? God has the right
Speaker 1: pieces to make your puzzle fit together. That puzzle may
Speaker 1: not make sense right now, but don't get discouraged. There's
Speaker 1: another piece coming that's going to pull it all together.
Speaker 1: Don't get stuck on that page. God has some more
Speaker 1: ingredients for your life. Ingredients that will turn the sour
Speaker 1: into sweep, ingredients that will turn mourning into dancing even,
Speaker 1: ingredients that will lift you out of mediocrity into a
Speaker 1: life of abundance. And sometimes by faith, you just need
Speaker 1: to hear it. Hear God saying it. Bam, another divine connection, Bam.
Speaker 1: Another breakthrough BAM, another supernatural opportunity BAM. Another wall coming down.
Speaker 1: Get ready for some bams in your life. You have
Speaker 1: not seen your best days. They are still in your future.
Speaker 1: If you will learn to shake off the bitterness and
Speaker 1: not dwell on unanswered questions, but really believe that God
Speaker 1: is in complete control, then God is going to show
Speaker 1: up and show out in unusual ways. He'll take your
Speaker 1: scars and turn them into stars. He'll take the mess
Speaker 1: and make it into your message. When you come to
Speaker 1: the end, you'll be able to say, I finish my course,
Speaker 1: I fulfilled my destiny. God worked all things together for
Speaker 1: my good. If you receive it, can you say amen?
Speaker 1: We never like to close our broadcast without giving you
Speaker 1: an opportunity to make Jesus the lord of your life.
Speaker 1: Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord, Jesus, I
Speaker 1: repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make
Speaker 1: you my Lord and savior. Friends, if you prayed that
Speaker 1: simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in
Speaker 1: a good Bible based church. Keep God in first place.
Speaker 1: He's going to take your places that you've never dreamed of.
Speaker 1: It's amazing what happens when you take a few moments
Speaker 1: throughout the day to connect with God. A moment to
Speaker 1: thank him for his goodness, a moment to declare his promises,
Speaker 1: a moment to remember that He's working now. I love
Speaker 1: to send you a new resource, three Minute Moments with God.
Speaker 1: These short readings will help you refocus your thoughts, gain
Speaker 1: a fresh perspective knowing that God is ordering your steps.
Speaker 1: You don't need ours to connect with God. In just
Speaker 1: a few minutes, you can turn your thoughts toward Him
Speaker 1: and be encouraged by his promises. As you make time
Speaker 1: for Him, you'll have greater peace and strength, and you'll
Speaker 1: step into the favor that belongs to you.
Speaker 2: Three Minute Moments with God is a powerful new devotional
Speaker 2: designed to meet you right where you are inside. You'll
Speaker 2: find topical readings for whatever you're facing, whether you need peace, wisdom, healing,
Speaker 2: or hope. Each one is filled with scripture and encouraging thought,
Speaker 2: a heartfelt prayer, and faith building declarations. So in just
Speaker 2: a few focused minutes, you can quiet the noise, turn
Speaker 2: your heart toward God, and set the atmosphere for Him
Speaker 2: to move. It's yours as a thank you for your
Speaker 2: gift to the ministry today, be sure to request your
Speaker 2: copy of three Minute Moments with God available this month
Speaker 2: by visiting us at Joelostein dot com or call eight
Speaker 2: eight eight five sixty seven Joel.
Speaker 1: Know today that God has you in the palm of
Speaker 1: his hand. As you take time to acknowledge Him throughout
Speaker 1: the day, He's going to fight your battles and get
Speaker 1: you to where you're supposed to be. Victori praying for
Speaker 1: you and your family every day. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for your prayer and support. Your generosity takes this message
Speaker 1: of hope to people all over the world who need
Speaker 1: their own moment with God. A special thank you to
Speaker 1: our champion of Hope partners. You monthly support makes a
Speaker 1: difference every single day. If you're not a partner, I
Speaker 1: hope you'll consider becoming one. Until next time, let the
Speaker 1: Lord bless you and keep you.
Speaker 2: Be sure to request your copy of three Minute Moments
Speaker 2: with God available this month by visiting us at Joelostein
Speaker 2: dot com or call eight eight eight five six seven Joel.
Speaker 2: With an additional gift, you can also receive the three
Speaker 2: Minute Promise, Power and Authority collection featuring Abundance, Assurance and Authority,
Speaker 2: a rich empowering study drawn from the Passion translation. It
Speaker 2: opens up who you already are in Christ, what's already yours,
Speaker 2: and the authority you already carry. Because your next moment
Speaker 2: with God could change everything. Know who you are, walk
Speaker 2: in what's yours, Step into every moment with confidence. You
Speaker 2: can request these inspiring resources by calling eight eight eight
Speaker 2: five six seven Joel or logging on to joelostein dot
Speaker 2: com today call or click anytime, twenty four hours a
Speaker 2: day