Priscilla Shirer, Joyce Meyer, and Lisa Osteen empower you in your purpose and calling! Don’t let the enemy’s lies hold you back from what God is calling you to do in this next year.
for myself I read this the other day and
I thought this was a great statement
[Music]
the biggest thing to be afraid of is not
failure
the biggest thing to be afraid of is
that we will succeed at something that’s
useless and I’m going to tell you
something women you got to step out and
do something if you wait until fear and
nervousness is gone you will wait
forever but if you’ll just be willing to
take a step of faith and say God even if
I get rejected I’m gonna do it whatever
you call me to do and when you begin to
step out in faith and just step out and
and be strong and courageous God is
going to do great things through you
amen amen because you realize wait a
minute if he sustained me in my 20s and
my 30s and even in my teenage years when
I look back and see little things I
wrote down and I go oh my gosh the Lord
was the Lord was moving even then to
derail me into into a particular
direction that track record becomes a
booster for you in the current things
that you’re facing in your life
[Music]
just to your point dad about building
your confidence and your relationship
with the Lord before the storm comes I
think one of the
ways that people can do that I know it’s
been helpful for me I didn’t even
realize I was doing it but actually
writing down and keeping a track record
of when you see the Fingerprints of God
in your life I look back now and realize
I was probably just keeping a little
Journal I’m not one of those people that
journals like every day or you know even
every you know religiously every week or
anything like that but just when
something happens that I see the
Fingerprints of God opening a door or
closing a door that in hindsight I
realized was his best plan for me or I
see something happening where it’s just
what some would consider ordinary but
there’s the traces of God’s handiwork
just moving things around I write that
down because you won’t remember what
happened a decade ago but when you open
up this little book you’ve scribbled
some notes about what God has done and
then you look back and you begin to
actually see how things that seem
disconnected at the time or just seemed
like it wasn’t going your way how you’re
working God worked Watching God work
that out then it helps to build your
confidence when you’re going through
something now because you realize wait a
minute if he sustained me in my 20s and
my 30s and even in my teenage years when
I look back and see little things I
wrote down and I go oh my gosh the Lord
was the Lord was moving even then to
derail me into into a particular
direction
that track record becomes a booster for
you in the current things that you’re
facing in your life so I’ve even done
that with my sons I’ve kept a little
journal for each of the boys I bought a
little Journal when I started when my
oldest was five I went to Ross Dress For
Less in the back corner there they’ve
got these little journals for 5.99 and
I’ve had the same ones for I guess now
15 years and every now and then when I
just see just a little hint in a
question they’ve asked or a conversation
we’ve had or some way I can see God
working and moving and something he’s
lined up for them I write it down
because I want to be able to give it to
them and say look if if he did this for
you then when you hit the bumps of Life
which we all are then you can trust him
because he’s already proven to you that
he’s going to be faithful yeah and
Jonathan you mentioned wrestling with
God which we are watched you do
firsthand because you are the athlete of
the family like you you do this and then
you end up here you work out and you end
up doing but like that’s just kind of
how your mind works but as we talk about
as as we’ve heard these things that were
said I remember I think in chapter nine
of the book you basically talk about
getting the place where you realized
that God’s answer was yes or yes and you
had to get yourself there can you can
you elaborate on that when it comes to
yeah absolutely
um just thinking about you know what Dad
is saying in his conditional and
unconditional will like we met the
conditions so I’m like uh I’m just
waiting I did it the whole time I’m
hopeful yeah the whole time yeah we all
work and I’m watching mommy kind of
decline but I’m like uh it’s okay
because he’s gonna it’s gonna be a
greater you know what I mean like yeah
so I’ve done that in my mind and and the
the effort that we had put forward just
calling on the name of the Lord and and
I felt like this was a great opportunity
for him
this is a great opportunity for you now
no you need to take advantage of this
one this is that’s right this is
everybody’s watching yeah um and so I
kind of got to a place where I really
felt was hopeful about it and when he
basically said no that’s how I received
it initially that we did all of this and
you just didn’t come through right
um You didn’t make a way out of out of
no way you know you didn’t do those
things
but then God you know in my quiet time
in silence in silence and Solitude I got
Clarity just spending time with God and
he just said you know you don’t
understand my victory you’re complaining
because you don’t really understand what
Jesus Christ has done it was hard for
you to watch your mother die but how
much harder was it to me to watch my son
die so your mother can actually live and
when I thought about the life that has
been given in his unconditional will
that his unconditional will even meeting
his conditions was better than what I
prayed for trying to meet his
conditional will you asked for healing
she’s got it
um you asked her to be with family she’s
got it you asked her to be well taken
care of she’s got it you don’t
understand I’ve given you everything you
asked for on a higher level than you
asked for it and you don’t understand it
because you’re a kid you’re not you know
what I’m saying the same thing with my
kids they just don’t get it until they
get to a point of maturity where they’re
able to say oh Dad his will is just best
and and now we can do what my mom always
said with my mom like she’s not yours we
can do it our mom always said your
greatest ministry will come right out of
your greatest misery
and um and keep on going you know one of
the ways me and Daddy encouraged each
other you know through football
is you know in in football every player
has to retire
it happens every time and the players
that are still on the field are sad you
know because that’s the that’s their guy
right
but all you can do is put your head down
and keep playing until you retire too
because you want to hear the coaches say
the same thing to you that he said to
him well done you played hard here’s
your gold jacket enjoy retirement and
that’s what Mommy’s doing she retired
she’s enjoying that retirement in his
rest and we’re gonna put our heads down
we’re gonna keep playing hard that’s
great all the way to the Finish yeah
there are so many things that we had had
to to learn I mean I didn’t realize I
think daddy told me this he thought that
when we were going through this
and and Mommy thought this too she would
look at me and be like are you okay but
it wasn’t a normal are you okay it was
kind of like uh this is the kid that
could fall apart with this much weight
on him emotionally that it was that kind
of are you okay and I all the things
that we’ve talked about all the lessons
that I learned along the way even in the
hard moments of my life I didn’t realize
were training me for this moment in the
book um I can’t remember what what
chapter but we tell the story of of The
Karate Kid which I won’t tell the whole
thing now Priscilla tells it a lot
um do you want to just hit on that real
quick I mean well just that there was a
lot of training I mean the karate kid
you know the one with Daniel’s son and
Mr meal yeah
although that was good too yes but the
original one you know Danielson wants
training and in karate so he goes to Mr
Miyagi and Mr Miyagi basically has him
managing his house cleaning cars
painting fences sanding the floor and he
just Daniel becomes extremely frustrated
he’s like you this is not what I’m here
for yeah I came here to train to be able
to be excellent at the craft of karate
and so Mr Miyagi sees his frustration
and he starts throwing punches and
Daniel without thinking about it begins
to block all of these punches and kicks
that are coming his Direction he did not
know that all of that training that
seemed unnecessary and seemed mundane
and just like he was actually
accomplishing nothing
in that mundane training was actually
everything that he needed to be prepared
for the fight he was learning he was
becoming masterful at the craft it just
didn’t look like it in the moment
foreign
but I think most of us if it were really
gut level honest we would have to say
that when we first start
first start wanting to be used by God
our motives are not all that stellar
I had been abused by my dad and so I was
very insecure
and to be honest although I had a call
on my life
part of me wanted to do it because I
felt like I was being called to do it
but part of it wanted me to do it
because I just wanted to be successful
at something so I could feel good about
myself
I can’t stand here and tell you that day
one all I wanted to do was help other
people
I wanted to be successful
I wanted to be in leadership I wanted to
be one of the important people
at my church I wanted to have my name on
a seat
I wanted to have an office with my name
on the door
and I wanted all of those things for the
wrong reasons now that didn’t mean I
wasn’t called
but it did mean that God had to do a
work of purification in my life to get
me to the point where for every where
everything I was doing was being done
number one in obedience to him and
number two to help people
and that takes a while
how many of you know what I mean when
I’m talking about motives let me let me
just give you a homework assignment
I’ll never know if you did it or not but
just pretend like you’re going to
sometime when this is over and you have
some quiet time at home
write down everything that you spend
your time doing
and then go back and ask yourself why
you’re doing it
everybody gets quiet at this point
I mean it is amazing how quiet people
get when you start talking about motives
you know why our motives are not what
we’re doing it’s why we’re doing what
we’re doing
and guess what that’s the only part God
cares about
he’s not impressed by our big Ministries
or our
friends on Facebook or this or that or
anything else the only thing he’s
concerned about is why are you doing
what you’re doing and you know First
Corinthians 3 13
says that the work of each one of us
will become plainly and openly known
shown for what it is for the day of
Christ will disclose and declare it
because it will be revealed with fire
and the fire will test and critically
appraise the character and the worth of
the work that each person has done
and it goes on to say that if what we’ve
done is a pure work we’ll get our reward
and if not all the works will be burned
up even though we ourselves will still
be saved
I don’t know about you but I don’t want
to waste my time
I don’t want to spend my life with some
misconceived deceptive idea
that I’m doing everything I’m doing for
God when really a lot of it is just
for myself I read this the other day and
I thought this was a great statement
the biggest thing to be afraid of is not
failure
the biggest thing to be afraid of is
that we will succeed at something that’s
useless
I think we could say that again right
the biggest thing to be afraid of is not
failure
the biggest thing to be afraid of is
that we might succeed at something
useless
I just wrote a book released it last
fall called seize the day
and in that book I tried to share with
people how important it is to
live your life on purpose for a purpose
I don’t think any of us can realize how
valuable time is
until you get old enough in life to
where you’re not having too much of it
left
you think totally differently when
you’re 20 and 30 and 40
and even 50 and 60
and I can tell you when I was in my 60s
I realized one day two-thirds of my life
was over even if I lived to be in my mid
90s two-thirds of it was over and I only
had about a third left
and I tell you I really have a passion
to tell people don’t waste your life
and don’t waste your time
and one of the ways that we can waste
our lives is doing things that really
are not important to God just to try to
impress people
amen now I know that talking about
motives gets people kind of somber so
we’ll go on and talk about something
else now
thank you
during that period of time we also have
the privilege of having a lot of
humility worked into
Our Lives
the Bible says humble yourself into the
mighty hand of God but I can tell you
that if you don’t humble yourself God
will do it for you
and it’s much more painful when he does
it
than if we go ahead and do it
I don’t know if you’re willing to admit
it or not but I think most of us when we
start are pretty full of ourselves
anybody
come on don’t look so innocent I’m here
I’ve only been a month since I had my
hips sawed in half I’m here to help you
so look like you’re being helped
see I like to get into the deeper stuff
because
I just don’t think we’ve got a lot of
time to mess around
amen
Nebuchadnezzar the King Daniel 4 1-4
this is such a good story
Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the
people Nations and languages that dwell
on all the Earth may peace be multiplied
to you verse two it seemed good to me to
show the signs and wonders that the most
high God has performed toward me now I
want you to notice that in the beginning
of this chapter he’s given God all the
credit
look what God’s done
how great are his signs and how Mighty
are his wonders his kingdom is an
everlasting Kingdom and his Dominion is
from generation to generation
and I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my
house and prospering in my Palace
you see as long as we’re giving God the
credit
we have rest
and we have peace
now I don’t know what happened to poor
Nebuchadnezzar
but somehow in 26 verses
he fell completely apart
and I don’t really know how long 26
verses takes in the Bible
but it didn’t take me very long to read
it
and by the time we get around to verse
30
the king said is not this the great
Babylon that I have built
as the Royal residence in the seat of
government by the might of my power and
for the honor and the glory of my
Majesty
wow
you see
success can be dangerous
yes I said success can be dangerous
because there’s always a danger that we
might begin to think
that we actually had something to do
with it
or even worse than that
and I think God hates this the most we
might begin to think that we’re actually
better than other people
and then if we’re not very careful we’ll
begin to mistreat other people
that we don’t think are quite as
important as we are
we’re not very useful to God
if we don’t beg him to work in our lives
to keep us humble
no matter and nothing hurts worse than
having God deal with your pride
I used to have a series on my table
called pride and humility
I finally realized that nobody was going
to buy that
so I have gotten very good at hiding my
messages under other titles
[Applause]
how to succeed with God
five ways to find promotion
and I do that I really do
while the words were still in the king’s
mouth
their fellow Boys From Heaven saying oh
King Nebuchadnezzar to you it is spoken
the kingdom has departed from you
let me tell you something it takes a lot
longer to build something up than it
does for God to tear it down
we all beg God for big things I did
and I love to share this with the people
that are in leadership I remember when
the Lord spoke to my heart and he said I
just want you to remember that however
many people you can help that’s exactly
how many you can hurt
that’s why leadership is such a huge
responsibility
not just a privilege
but a responsibility
because people watch everything
you do
you know I wanted to speak into the call
of God upon your life because God put
purpose and greatness inside of you and
you know I think back on my life and how
you know when I knew God had a call on
my life there’s always there was always
this voice of inadequacy you’re not
qualified this fear and I just want you
to know that when God calls you to do
something he’s going to help you do it
and but you will fight this fear these
feelings and I learned a long time ago
that you just have to do it anyway no
matter how you feel and uh amen because
because the feelings the fear will
always be there but I remember you know
when I first even as a teenager started
to pray with people you know I was
afraid I was going to say the wrong
thing and then when I first started
speaking you know I was so nervous and I
I just thought I’m not qualified but you
know I learned this that no matter how
we feel God will anoint us to to do what
he’s called us to do and he doesn’t call
the equipped he equips the called amen
if he calls you he’s going to equip you
and he’s going to anoint you to do it
and God said to Joshua as soon as he was
to take over from Moses after Moses died
you know think about the fear that that
Joshua was feeling the how he had to
step into Moses feet and three times God
said to him don’t be afraid be strong
and courageous he ended up saying I’m
commanding you Joshua don’t be afraid
but be strong and courageous and I know
that God has been speaking to you to do
certain things maybe it’s just an act of
obedience maybe he is calling you to
take this great step of faith and I want
to say to you that God is saying don’t
be afraid be strong and courageous don’t
listen to the lies of the enemy because
even though you may be unqualified God
will qualify you and he will be with you
and he will help you every step of the
way I was just thinking about something
funny Victoria because when I was in
college you know I was always grow up
it’s hard to believe it but I grew up
sort of shy and quiet and when I was in
college my first year I really wanted to
do something for God I was out on my own
and so I applied at the end of the year
to be a chaplain in a dorm over 30 girls
and my brother Paul was a chaplain
director and you know and I just had a
desire to do something and I thought you
know I’m probably going to get it I mean
after all Paul’s in there I’m at Osteen
you know everybody loves my dad you know
and but would you believe after I
interviewed and all that they they said
that they didn’t think I was qualified
and they rejected me you know
and so I just thought well that’s okay
but they said this they said we feel
like uh you’re a little too shy and
quiet right now and the truth is I was
shy and quiet but something in me was
saying God was saying I want to use you
I want to do something through you and
so I took that step of faith and I
applied but I got rejected but let me
tell you something people women when God
when people close the door God will open
another door and so I just took it you
know I went through the summer and right
before school started I got a call from
the chaplain’s office and they said hey
one of the chaplains can’t come back to
school and we want you after all and so
I thought well I wasn’t their first
choice but I was God’s choice
and the truth is I was not qualified but
God didn’t care and he wanted me God
chose me even though I wasn’t qualified
God chose me even though I wasn’t ready
and so I didn’t even feel ready to be
the chaplain but I stepped out and I’m
going to tell you something women you
got to step out and do something if you
wait until fear and nervousness is gone
you will wait forever but if you’ll just
be willing to take a step of faith and
say God even if I get rejected I’m gonna
do it whatever you call me to do and
when you begin to step out in faith and
just step out and and be strong and
courageous God is going to do great
things through you amen amen yes we
receive that no matter what you’re going
through today God wants you to love your
life he he gave you life the scripture
says that Jesus came to give you life
and life more abundantly not everything
goes our way we Face challenges we Face
difficulties but God doesn’t want you to
stop living he doesn’t want you to stop
pushing he doesn’t want you to stop
pressing because in those difficulties
you will find God and you’ll come out on
the other side of that difficulty
stronger than you ever thought possible
I want to say to be encouraged to all
the women because even though it may be
a difficult season right now God is
birthing things in you that are going to
just surprise and shock you in such a
great way and he will bring you through
it he promised he said that he will he
will provide a way of Escape through
whatever you’re going through he’s your
deliverer he’s your Refuge he turns rock
and just remind yourself of those
wonderful characteristics of God because
he’s there for you but I just want to
encourage you to just enjoy when you’re
living the season that you’re living in
and just do what God speaks in your
heart to do if God tells you to do
something people can’t change what God
told you to do but I want him to say
about us all women men and everybody
that’s serving God very well done my
good and faithful sir yes I like that
you gotta fight the good fight of faith
and you know what sometimes when you’re
fighting you can get worn out if you’re
trying to do it in your own strength but
you won’t get worn out if you’re doing
it in the strength of God and you know I
love the fact that you are you know you
are prepared with God’s word you’re not
waiting to feel down and think what am I
going to do but you know what you got to
fight in you because you got God’s word
and you know that he’s called you to be
more than an overcomer and is it good we
know the end of the story we win amen
amen