WEBVTT - Developing An Overflow Mentality | Joel Osteen 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:03.160 Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:06.360 our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.040 enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:11.760 share it with a friend. We appreciate you and pray 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.960 for God's very best in your life. So God bless you. 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:17.560 It's a joy to come into your homes and you're 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:20.119 ever in our area, please stop by and be a 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.800 part of one of our services. I promise you we'll 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:25.040 make you feel right at home. I like to get 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:27.360 started each week with something kind of funny, and I 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:30.120 heard about this pastor and song leader that we're not 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:33.640 getting along, and it started to spill over into the services. 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:38.520 One Sunday, the pastor spoke about being willing to change. Afterwards, 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:40.720 the song leader got up and led the song I 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:44.640 Shall not be moved. The next week, he spoke on 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:47.520 being a giver. The song leader got up and led 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:51.800 Jesus paid it all. Next week he talked about gossip 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:53.800 and how you have to watch your tongue, and the 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:57.640 song leader led, I love to tell the story. The 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:01.000 pastor got so frustrated he finally resigned. He said, Jesus 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:04.200 brought me here and Jesus has taken me away. The 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:06.720 song leader then led, what a friend we have in 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:11.039 Jesus die. All right, hold up your bible, say it 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:14.160 like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:14.880 what it says. 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:15.240 I am. 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:18.399 I have what it says I have. I can do 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:21.080 what it says I can do. Today I will be 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:25.360 taught the word of God. I boldly confess. My mind 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:29.039 is alert, my heart is receptive. I will never be 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:33.759 the same. In Jesus' name, God bless you. I want 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:38.520 to talk to you today about developing and overflow mentality. 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:41.720 Our God is a running over God, and we're not 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.920 supposed to just have our needs supplied. We're supposed to 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.440 be so blessed when other people get around us, it 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:52.520 overflows onto them. We should be so blessed in our 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:56.440 finances that we cannot only pay our bills, not only 0:01:56.480 --> 0:01:59.800 accomplish our dreams, but we can be a blessing to others. 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:02.800 And if we're going to live this abundant life, we 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:06.800 have to have an overflow mentality. You've got to know 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:11.359 it's God's dream that you prosper. Just like as a parent, 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:14.560 I love to see my children doing well. I love 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.799 to see them looking good and see them excelling. It's 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:22.200 the same way with God. He takes pleasure in prospering you. 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.320 We were never created to barely get by. We weren't 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:30.280 created to have to constantly struggle. God made us to 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:33.360 be the head and not the tail. He said we 0:02:33.400 --> 0:02:36.760 would lend and not borrow. We may not all be 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.240 there just yet, but don't settle where you are all 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:44.160 through the day. Reminds yourself. God takes pleasure in prospering me. 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:48.720 His favor surrounds me like a shield. His blessings are 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:53.000 chasing me down. Promotion and increase are coming my way. 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:56.359 And of course we all go through times of testing. 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:00.320 There are seasons where we don't see any increase, getting 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:02.960 any good breaks. We have to dig our heels in 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:06.400 and press through the difficult times. But the way God 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:11.160 designed it is that seasons always change. That means we're 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:15.279 not supposed to constantly struggle. It is not your destiny 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:19.160 to always be in lack and never have enough. At 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:22.079 some point, the test will come to an end. At 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.880 some point you go from sowing into reaping. But if 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:29.760 we're not careful because we've struggled so long and not 0:03:29.960 --> 0:03:33.320 seeing the results and the increase that we've hoped for. 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:37.320 It's easy to lose our fire, lose our passion, and think, ah, man, 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.440 it's never going to happen to me. I'm never going 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.640 to rise any higher. No, don't settle where you are. 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:46.160 You've gone through sowing. Now you need to start believing 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:49.360 that harvest is coming your way. And some of you 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:52.520 have been so faithful. You've gotten up each day and 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:56.280 done your best. You've given even when you didn't have enough. 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:59.680 You've kept that attitude of faith. And God is saying 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:03.480 that it's your time to come into harvest. It's your 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.520 time to start reaping all those seeds that you've sown. 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:09.440 Why don't you get a vision for it, not to 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:13.560 barely get by. Maybe one day I'll have enough. Maybe 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.039 one day I'll be able to send my children to college. 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.760 Maybe one day I'll be able to afford that house 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:22.640 that I really want. No, start thinking overflow. You're a 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.640 child of the most high God. He wants to do 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.479 more than you can even ask or think. And I 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:31.520 know I've had people say, well, Joel, my family's always struggled. 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.360 My parents never had enough, and my grandparents were always 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:39.080 in lack and defeat. That may be true, but this 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:41.960 is a new day. You can set a new standard. 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:44.960 God wants you to be the one to break the 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:48.839 curse of lack in your family line. You have seeds 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.960 of greatness on the inside of you right now. God 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:56.120 has equipped you with everything you need to succeed. And 0:04:56.160 --> 0:05:00.760 the fact is, your parents, grandparents, ancestors, they may have 0:05:00.800 --> 0:05:04.080 been good people, but maybe they didn't understand this truth 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:08.599 that God takes pleasure in prospering you. Or maybe they 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.880 sowed the seeds, they made the sacrifices so that you 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:15.560 could live a better life. In either case, God wants 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.400 you to go further than your parents. He wants every 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:22.200 generation to increase and if you'll rise up in faith, 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.000 you can affect your family line for generations to come. 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.720 This is what my father did. His family was one 0:05:29.720 --> 0:05:33.400 of the poorest families around. They had nothing. But at 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.400 the age of seventeen, when my dad gave his life 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:40.040 to the Lord, he made a decision that his children 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:43.960 would never be raised in the lack and poverty that 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:46.520 he was raised in. He drew the line in the 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:49.279 sand and said, this is where we are, but this 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:51.719 is not where we're staying. We are coming up higher. 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:57.040 What happened He developed a new mindset. Up to that point, 0:05:57.200 --> 0:05:59.960 he had had a poverty mentality. That's all he did 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.320 known barely able to get by, barely have enough to 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:06.719 pay the bills. He could have easily settled there and 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:08.599 just thought, this is who I am, this is my 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.520 lot in life. If he had had done that, I 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:14.880 wouldn't be where I am today. The decision he made 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.080 way back in the nineteen thirties is still affecting me, 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:22.919 my children, even future generations. But my father knew deep 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:26.240 down he was supposed to live this abundant life. He 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:30.680 developed this overflow mentality, and it didn't happen overnight. But 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:35.600 he and my mother stayed faithful. They kept giving, serving, believing, 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.640 and over time God did more than they could even 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.000 ask or think. They came in to overflow. You may 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:45.440 be in poverty today, but don't ever let poverty get 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:48.360 in you. Hold your head up high, know that you're 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:51.200 a child of the most High God. That may be 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.280 the way it's been, but that's not the way it's 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.000 going to stay. You are coming up higher. You're going 0:06:56.080 --> 0:06:58.840 to see God's favor in a greater way. You're going 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:01.240 to see your gifts and talents come out like they've 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:04.479 never come out before. I believe you're going to be 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:09.080 given supernatural opportunities that, just like a rocket, can launch 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:11.960 you into a new dimension. If you'll stay in faith, 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:14.720 it's just a matter of time before it comes to pass. 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:18.080 That's what the scripture says in Psalm sixty five, verse eleven. 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:23.200 God will crown the year with a bountiful harvest. Your 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:28.240 carts will overflow with abundance. That's my prayer for each 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.600 one of you, that you will see God's blessings like 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.920 you've never seen them before. That you will come into promotion, 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:42.080 increase bonuses, raises even inheritances. God likes to do unusual things. 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:45.200 It talks about in the Bulk of Malachi. If you'll 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:48.840 be a giver and keep God first place, he will 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:52.520 open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.720 that you cannot contain. That sounds to me like it's 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:59.760 supposed to be running over. After all, he's called El Shaddai, 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.680 the God who is more than enough, not Ilchipo, the 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:07.640 God of barely enough. Don't ever go around talking about 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.240 how high prices are and how you're never going to 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.120 make it. If you have a poor mouth, you're going 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:15.840 to live a poor life. And you may be so 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:20.280 broke that you can't even pay attention. You may have 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:23.360 so many things coming against you. But if somebody asks 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:26.600 you how you're doing, don't give a twenty minute explanation 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:29.760 of how bad things are. And gas is so high, 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.040 and my business is slow, my dishwasher broke, my dog died. 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:36.520 He knows if all that up, don't speak defeat over 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:39.400 your life, no matter how it looks in the natural. 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:42.120 You need to start saying it. By faith. I am blessed. 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:48.600 I have the favor of God. Everything I touch prospers. Yes, 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:52.520 prices may be high, but God always supplies my needs. Yes, 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:54.720 the economy may be a little slow, but I'm not 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:59.120 going under. I'm going over. God always causes me to tryumph. 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.920 A while back, this young couple ask me to pray 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:05.200 and agree that this furniture they wanted to buy would 0:09:05.240 --> 0:09:08.480 go on seal. They had been watching it a long 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:10.120 time and they knew if it went on sale they'd 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:11.360 be able to buy it. And I had to think 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:14.560 about that a minute, and I finally said, instead of 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:17.640 praying that it'll go on sell, I would rather pray 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:20.240 that God would bless you in such a way that 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.600 even if it doesn't, you would still be able to 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:26.200 purchase it. It's not about trying to make things come 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:29.400 down so we can afford it. It's about us believing 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:35.120 to come up higher where we're supposed to be. After all, 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.360 the same God that can cause it to go on 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.000 sell can cause you to be blessed in such a 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:42.760 way that you're not sitting around waiting for a discount. 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:45.880 And I'm all for getting good deals. I'm for being 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.560 frugal and not wasting. In fact, when I order a 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:51.079 pizza over the phone, I still use the coupon out 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.280 of the paper. I'm not against any of that. But 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.240 some people, and I say this respectfully, they've got a 0:09:57.320 --> 0:10:00.920 cheap spirit. They won't buy anything unless they can find 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:03.840 it on sale. I've known people that will drive across 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:07.400 town and spend ten dollars on gas to save three 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:12.360 dollars on a box of deterny. They don't realize their 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:16.360 time is valuable. Years ago, a friend of mine went 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:19.400 to a family reunion in another state, and the next 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:22.680 day a cousin of his was flying in. But this 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:26.400 cousin flew to a city that was two hundred miles 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:30.679 away so he could save sixty dollars on his airplane ticket. 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:33.640 My friend drove five hours to get him, waited two 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:36.079 hours at the airport, five hours to get back to 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.120 the family reunion. When he got back, the cousin offered 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:41.280 him one hundred dollars for coming to pick him up, 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:43.720 and my friend, of course he wouldn't take it, but 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.360 he thought to himself, I wish you would have just 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:49.520 spent the sixty dollars on your ticket, so you would 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.800 have saved us both a whole day and a lot 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.600 of other headaches. What's my point this cousin, It wasn't 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:59.040 that he couldn't afford it. He had just programmed himself 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:01.760 to think cheaply. I don't have enough. I got to 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:04.440 get the bargain basement flight, even if I've got to 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:08.760 go through Tokyo first. No, you need to be set 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:11.400 free from that cheap spirit. You are a child of 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:18.320 the most high God. Your time is valuable. You are 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.600 a person of excellence. If you don't realize who you 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.760 are and get rid of that barely get by mentality, 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:27.840 it'll keep you from coming in to overflow. I remember 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.040 when I was growing up, just a little boy, I 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.439 was with my father and he was buying a suit, 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.280 and the man selling it to him found out that 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.800 he was a minister and kind of demeaning, almost like 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.440 we were second class. He said, well, you know, we 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:44.200 can give you a minister's discount if you need it. 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:46.880 I could tell my father did not like that. That 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:49.680 rubbed him the wrong way. He thought to himself, I 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:52.440 am not a beggar. I'm not looking for a handout. 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.520 I'm a child of Almighty God. I don't need a 0:11:55.600 --> 0:12:00.000 minister's discount. And understand, my father loved to get good deals. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.520 He came out of the depression. He was very conservative. 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:06.480 I'm not talking about being arrogant or being wasteful. It 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.959 wasn't out of pride, but rather out of a boldness 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:13.720 of who he was and what he represented. He put 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.679 his shoulders back and said, no, sir, I don't take 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:19.920 a minister's discount. Do you know who my father is. 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:23.400 That salesman stepped back, looked at him kind of differently. 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:26.960 He thought Daddy came from a well to do, influential family. 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:30.360 He didn't know he wasn't talking about his earthly father. 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:36.080 He was talking about his heavenly father that day. Something 0:12:36.200 --> 0:12:39.120 just rose up in my dad. He was saying, in effect, 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.880 that this is a new day. We've stepped out of 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:45.760 poverty and lack. We've gotten the Christmas basket long enough. 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:48.520 Because we were the poorest family, I went to high 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:50.839 school with holes in my pants. All I could ever 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.240 afford growing up was half a glass of milk. But 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:56.160 Daddy was saying, this is a new day. Don't tell 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.520 me the God I serve has to have a discount. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.680 He's well able to take care of me. He's Jehovah, Jirah, 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:07.840 the Lord, my provider. If there's anything that must make 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:11.160 God sad is for his sons and daughters to go 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:15.839 around with a barely get by, defeated mentality. I gotta 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.400 have a discount. All I can afford is the day 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.280 old bred. All I can afford is the leftovers. No, 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:23.559 you need to get a bigger vision of who you are. 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:27.360 You need to start reminding yourself. I am blessed, I 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.160 am prosperous. I may not be able to afford it 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:33.160 right now, but my time is coming. I may be 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:35.600 on welfare today, but this is not where I'm staying. 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:38.720 I don't need a handout, even if you have to 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:42.320 stand against that your whole life. You should never give 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:44.880 into the fact that you're supposed to live in lack 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:48.000 and always be at the mercy of other people. You 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:50.600 need to make up your mind. You may be taking 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.160 a handout now, but one day you're gonna be given 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:55.960 the handout. One day you're gonna lend and not borrow. 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:59.839 You're coming in to overflow. That's God's dream for each 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.000 of you, and you may not see how it can happen. 0:14:03.120 --> 0:14:06.320 But that's okay. That's not your job. Your job is 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:09.560 to believe. God can give you one idea that can 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.400 totally change your life. He can cause you to bump 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.800 into one person that will offer you a position that'll 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.200 take you to a new level. He can give you 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:21.400 an inheritance from a long lost relative you didn't even 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:24.280 know you had. He's God, He's got it all figured out. 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:27.760 The other day, a man told me how he had 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.400 reached his limits in his career. He didn't think he 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:33.080 can go any higher. The man in front of him, 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:36.360 his supervisor, had just gotten the big promotion that he 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.080 was hoping to get. And this supervisor was a young 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.360 man looked like he'd be there for twenty or thirty years. 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:44.600 This other man was so discouraged, and I told him, 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:47.800 just stay in faith. God's still in control. You never 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:52.160 know what could happen. About six months later, that man 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.280 all of a sudden decided to move to another city, 0:14:55.320 --> 0:14:58.720 this supervisor, to be with his family. And now they 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:02.480 offered this man the same position he was on Cloud nine. 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:06.520 It put him into overflow. If you'll stay in faith, 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.840 God will move people around to get you to where 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:14.440 he wants you to be. I know this couple, they 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.400 bought a home in another state, and a couple of 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.920 months after they purchased it, they got a certified letter 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:25.320 notifying them that a company had discovered oil underneath the 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:29.240 whole neighborhood. They offered them an incredible amount of money, 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:32.600 not to purchase the property, not to disrupt their living, 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:35.720 but simply to be able to go underground and drill 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.000 for that oil. He was so happy. I mean, you 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.880 would have thought he was Jed Clampett the Beverly Hillbillies. 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.520 But you think about it. A couple of months later, 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.440 and those owners would have never sold him the property. 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.680 God had it all arranged, moving one out to move 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.240 another end the right place the right time that comple 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:57.560 stepped into their season of harvest. You don't have to 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:01.720 figure it all out. Just stay in faith, believing that 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.520 God takes pleasure in prospering you. He wants you to 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:09.080 come into overflow, not just so you can be blessed. 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:12.920 There's a purpose for our prosperity, and that is to 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:15.920 be a blessing to others. If all you have on 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.240 your mind is yourself, that's going to limit what God 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.320 can do. We need to have the attitude. God give 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.400 me ways that not only my family can be blessed, 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:28.480 but help me to make a bigger difference, help me 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:32.640 to impact more people. God has blessed Victorian I beyond 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.400 our wildest dreams, and I say this humbly. I think 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:38.120 you know my heart. But We've always had a desire 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:41.480 to help others. We've talked about for years being able 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.640 to build hospitals in needy countries, having orphanages to support 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:49.360 less fortunate children. Right now we're in the planning stages 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:52.560 of helping to underwrite a home for troubled teens here 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:58.160 in the Houston area. We're not supposed to be We're 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:01.600 not supposed to be a resud to hoard everything up. 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:05.040 We're supposed to be a channel where God's blessings can 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:08.320 flow through us. If you will keep God first place 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.800 and have a desire to help others, There's no limit 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.160 to what God can do in your life. He can 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:17.040 give you one good break that will put you into overflow. 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:19.880 He can give you one dream at night that can 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.760 revolutionize your life. Growing up, my parents knew a man 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:26.800 by the name of Henry Kraus. Mister Kraus was a 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:30.639 farmer in the natural, just an average ordinary person. He 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.520 didn't have a college degree, he didn't seem to be 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.399 super talented, look like he would just live a normal 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:39.680 life and make a modest living. But God is not 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:43.840 limited by our education, He's not limited by our profession. 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:47.960 He likes to do unusual things. And one night God 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.800 gave mister Kraus a dream. And in this dream he 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.680 saw a certain kind of plow, a plow like he 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.160 had never seen before. He got up the next morning 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:00.399 and wrote it all down. Over time, he engine neared it, 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:04.440 he designed it, later had it patented. It became known 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.640 as the famous Chrous plow. It went on to help 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:11.679 revolutionize the farming industry. Mister Kraus was one of my 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:16.720 father's biggest supporters. Just one idea, just one dream. The 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:20.000 good news is God hasn't run out of ideas. He 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:22.879 hasn't run out of ways to put you into overflow. 0:18:23.600 --> 0:18:27.760 One scripture talks about how God can give us witty inventions. 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.560 Stay open, don't settle where you are. You're not supposed 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.560 to live in the land of barely enough. That's where 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.880 you're always struggling, always trying to make ends meet. You're 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.160 not supposed to live in the land of good enough. 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.399 That's where you can pay your bills, but there's no abundance, 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.720 there's no overflow. God wants you to come into the 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:49.920 land of more than enough. That's where you cannot only 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:52.919 pay your bills, but you have plenty left over to 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:56.639 be a blessing to others. That's the abundant life. A 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:59.080 lady was telling me the other day how she brought 0:18:59.080 --> 0:19:01.840 a friend to the servant and at the end that 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:04.679 friend stood up to make a decision for Christ. She 0:19:04.840 --> 0:19:07.679 was so happy for And afterwards they got to talking 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:10.920 and she found that this friend didn't have a bible. 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:13.639 In fact, her friend had never owned a Bible of 0:19:13.680 --> 0:19:16.200 her own. And this lady knew she was supposed to 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:18.720 go up to the bookstore and buy her a Bible, 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:21.879 but her funds were very tight. If she did that, 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:24.240 she wasn't sure she was going to make ends meet 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:26.920 for that month. But she went up there anyway. They 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:29.879 picked out a nice leather Bible. In fact, it was 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:33.080 an expensive bible, and while she was in line waiting 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:35.520 to pay for it, a man walked up to her 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:37.760 out of the blue said, I don't know you, but 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:40.120 I just feel like I'm supposed to give you this. 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:43.600 He handed her one hundred dollar bill. That's the way 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:47.320 God works. If you'll be obedient, God will always meet 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:52.080 your knees when you walk in overflow. You can be 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:55.159 a blessing wherever you go. You won't be looking for 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:58.920 a miracle. You can become someone's miracle. And really, that's 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:02.800 what life is all about. Buying someone's dinner, helping a 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:08.080 single parent mom, supporting a less fortunate child, making a difference. Friends, 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:10.960 It's okay to have money as long as money doesn't 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:13.960 have you. If you have a desire to help others 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:19.520 and a desire to leave your children's children and inheritance 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:22.600 like the scripture talks about. And you're living a life 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:26.600 of excellence and integrity with a big vision, then you're 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:30.320 in prime position to come into overflow. It may not 0:20:30.359 --> 0:20:33.120 have happened yet, but don't settle where you are. It's 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:36.640 never too late. Have the attitude this is where I am, 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:39.159 but this is not where I'm staying. My God is 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:41.960 a running over god. I know he takes pleasure in 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:46.680 prospering me. So I'm gonna keep giving, serving, believing, knowing 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.760 that I'm headed for overflow. I'm coming into that land 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:53.280 of more than an hour. And I say this respectfully. 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:58.320 But sometimes a religious attitude tries to make us think 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:03.000 we're supposed to be poor and broke and depressed so 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.080 we can prove to people that were humble. But when 0:21:06.119 --> 0:21:10.600 we're poor and broke and depressed, all that proves is 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:14.920 that we're poor and broke and depressed. That doesn't prove anything. 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:19.520 Nobody's going to want what we have. We're supposed to 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:23.000 be examples of what it means to live for our God. 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:26.680 We represent Christ here on this earth. If I called 0:21:26.720 --> 0:21:30.480 my children up today and their clothes were torn and wrinkled, 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:32.600 and they had holes in their shoes, their hair was 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.480 all messed up. You would look at me and think, 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:38.280 man alive, What kind of father is he? It would 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:41.800 be a poor representation on me. It's the same way 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:44.840 with our God. When we drag around with a defeated, 0:21:45.320 --> 0:21:49.200 barely get by mentality, having that false sense of humility. 0:21:49.640 --> 0:21:52.240 That's not bringing any honor to God. You want to 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:55.520 honor God, have an abundant life mentality. You want to 0:21:55.560 --> 0:21:59.000 put a smile on God's face. Don't settle until you 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:02.520 come into the land of more than enough. One time, 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:05.080 Victoria and I found these two acres that we really 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:07.840 wanted to buy. It was close into the city and 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:10.919 a very valuable piece of property. And God's blessed us 0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:14.000 through our books and other things, and we not only give, 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:17.120 but we try to invest our funds. We're not supposed 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:20.679