Please stop by and be a part of one of our services, I promise you we’ll make you feel right at home. Thanks so much for tuning in and thank you again for coming out today. I’d like to start with something funny. I heard about this elderly minister. He was dying. He sent for two of his members, an IRS agent and a lawyer to come to his house. When they arrived, he motioned for both of them to sit on each side of the bed. They were very moved to be with the minister in his final moments. At one point, the lawyer said very sincerely sir why did you choose both of us? The minister mustered up his strength and said, Jesus died between 2 sinners. That’s how I want to go.
Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess; my mind is alert, my heart is receptive, I will never be the same. In Jesus’ name, God bless you.
I want to talk to you today about strategically ordered steps. God is not a random God; He’s not vague, approximate, maybe I’ll do this, maybe I’ll do that. God is precise. Exact. He’s already laid out the plan for your life, down to the smallest details. And just as God will strategically bring good breaks, emotion, the right people, God will also use adversities, disappointments, closed doors, to move us toward our destiny. At the time, we may not understand. We think, this couldn’t be God, I lost my biggest client, I’m in a legal battle, my friends turned on me. No, God wouldn’t have allowed it unless He had a purpose for you. God wouldn’t just randomly say, give them some heartache, a bad break, let this person reject them. No, God is strategic. He may not have sent it but if He allowed it, He can use it to your advantage.
God sees the big picture for our life. He knows what we’re going to need in a month, in a year, and in 20 years. In the Scripture, Sampson wanted to marry a young lady from another tribe. His parents didn’t want him to do it. God had instructed them to not get involved, to stay with their own clan. But the Scriptures says, his parents didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to disrupt the Philistines who ruled Israel at the time. This was a situation doesn’t necessarily fit into our theology. God told them not to marry foreigners yet God was the one who led Sampson to do it. God knew years down the road He needed an insider in the Philistines camp to carry out his plan.
We’re not always going to understand why something happens. True faith is trusting God when it doesn’t make sense, believing that He’s strategic, that He knows what He’s doing. It may be uncomfortable, we don’t understand it, but deep down we have to know that if God allowed it then somehow it’s going to further us ultimately toward our divine destiny.
Proverbs 20 put it this way. Since the Lord is directing our steps, don’t try to figure out everything that is happening along the way. Why did my business go away, why did my child get into trouble, why did my relationship not work out? You may never know why but you can come back to this core truth that God knows what He’s doing. He’s praying that your life is good and even in opposition, like with Sampson, God is creating opportunity.
Somewhere down the road it’s not going to work against you it’s going to work for you. And if you don’t understand this principle, you’ll get frustrated because there are times in God’s divine plan where it will look like you’re going the wrong direction, your back is facing the goal, you know you’re supposed to be going this way but you’re heading just the opposite. This is what faith is all about. Will you trust Him when it seems like you’re going the wrong way? Will you keep a good attitude when you’re praying for increate but seeing decrease? Will you stay in faith when you were the most qualified but you got passed over?
Friends, God knows what He’s doing. He would have never allowed that if it was going to keep you from your destiny. He’s too strategic to just randomly put that into the plan for your life. It may not seem good but if you’ll keep moving forward one day you’ll see what God was up to.
I’ve seen in my own life God doesn’t always take us the most logical way. We can go from A to B to C; that makes sense; that’s logical. But God’s ways are not our ways. He may take it from A to B all the way up to R and then back to C then to N then to F. If you could see the plan God has for you on a map, it would not be in a straight line. Imagine a bunch of stepping stones. They would start off straight towards your goal and then there’s a turn and then another turn; now you’re headed back to where you started, wrong direction, doesn’t make sense.
Then there’s a U-turn, goes back, a little higher, then it dips down, on and on. At some point, you could be on a stepping stone God ordained for you. He strategically placed it before the foundation of time. But the stone you’re on is facing the opposite direction of your goal. It’s easy to think Joel this is not God’s plan; I’m going the wrong way, why do these things keep happening to me? Stay in faith. God’s plan is not straight; there are curves, detours, U-turns, shortcuts. God knows what He’s doing. He’s strategically directing your steps. It may be uncomfortable but God’s the one that put the stepping stone there.
It’s all a part of His plan. We all want to go to a higher level; we all want to see more of God’s favor. But sometimes you have to come off of the mountain and go down into the valley, not to stay, not to live, but so that you can go up to a higher level. God has something better, something bigger; you haven’t seen, heard or imagined what God has in store. But too often we think, God I’m going backwards. You said higher and I’m going lower. You said rain and I’m seeing drought. No don’t get discouraged. God is simply bringing you down that one mountain so you can go up that other mountain. He is strategically positioning you to see more of His goodness. And if you will stay in faith, one day you will look back and say it was good that I got pushed out of that job or I would have been stuck in a limited environment.
It was good that person left me or I would have never met the love of my life. It was good I went through the difficulties that not only made me stronger, not only developed a greater confidence in God, but in the opposition God was creating opportunity; He was putting me in position for something bigger, something better, something greater.
We see this principle in the life of Joseph; God knew there was going to be a famine in the land. The Israelites couldn’t survive without food from the Egyptians. So years earlier, God put a dream in the heart of a young man named Joseph that he would rule a nation. As a teenager, he had the promise from God. His goal was in front of him; he started out great. He was his father’s favorite child, wearing his coat of many colors, headed toward his destiny.
His brothers were very jealous of him. They threw him into a pit and eventually sold him in slavery. I’m sure Joseph thought, God where are you? You said I would lead a nation but now I’m a slave. This doesn’t make sense. The truth is, he was in God’s perfect world, he was just on one of those stones facing the opposite direction. Here’s the key: Those stones are temporary. That’s not where you’re permanently headed. Don’t stay focused on where you are. If you isolate one stone, one bad break, one disappointment, one dry season, you’ll get bitter, sour; that stone is simply one step in the plan God has for your life. It is not the final piece. God says His plans for you are for good and not evil. The end of your path is victory, dreams fulfilled, promises coming to pass. Now, don’t judge your future by one negative stepping stone.
Joseph kept being his best, kept honoring God even though things weren’t going his way. He ended up second in command of all of Eden; the dream came to pass. Here’s how strategic God is: there was a great famine in the land. Jacob, Joseph’s father, thought that Joseph was dead; he hadn’t seen him in many years. Jacob told his other sons to go to Egypt and see if there is any way they could possibly buy food. They were about to starve to death. God used the famine to send them to Egypt.
They would have never gone that way if not for adversity. In the same way, God will use dry seasons, disappointments, and closed doors, to reposition us, to get us to where He wants us to be. God knows what’s best for us. The brothers showed up at the palace and there was Joseph, in charge of the food supply, running a whole nation. Some 20 years earlier, God strategically orchestrated Joseph to be inside a foreign country, not only so that his dream could come to pass but so that God’s people could flourish in a time of famine. That’s how precise God is. He’s looking years down the road.
We can see a little way but God knows what you’re going to need 30 years from now. The good news is God is lining up people today that years later will be instrumental in you fulfilling your destiny. Nothing randomly happens. If Joseph’s brothers hadn’t rejected him, he would have never made it to the throne. Now quit losing sleep over people that don’t accept you, people that try to make you look small, disrespect you, dismiss you. Listen, if they weren’t in your life, you couldn’t make it to your throne. God ordained them not to hold you back but to move you forward. They may think they’re pushing you down but really they’re pushing you up.
You may be on one of those stepping stones, facing the wrong direction. It may set you back for a season but don’t worry, a U-turn is coming. At some point, you’re going to step past the stone of being rejected and lied about. You’ll step past the stone of a bad break, a disappointment, a closed door. And, like Joseph, you will step into promotion, into abundance. Into new levels. Into the fullness of your destiny. Now, my challenge, don’t get stuck on one of those negative stepping stones. People say well Joel if God’s so good why do I have the bad break in the first place? Why’d my child get off course, why am I still struggling at work?
Listen, that adversity, that difficulty, is simply a test.
God strategically placed you there. He would have never allowed it if you couldn’t handle it. It may be a big challenge but it is no match for you. You are a child of the Most High God. You have been armed with strength for every battle. You have the most powerful force in the universe breathing in your direction. Now don’t complain about the difficulty. Dig your heels in, have the attitude, I am in it to win it. I am not going to let what somebody said about me, this rejection, this breakup, this closed door, this disappointment, this sickness, cause me to get sour. I know it’s a part of God’s plan. He strategically placed me here. When it’s all said and done, it’s not going to work against me, it’s going to work for me. You have that kind of attitude, you’d better get ready. Like Joseph, you’re not going to stay in the pit, in defeat, in depression, in lack; you’re headed to the throne, you’re headed to victory, you’re headed to the fullness of your destiny. Listen, people can’t stop it, bad breaks can’t stop it, disappointments can’t stop it, all the forces of darkness cannot stop what God has strategically ordained for your life.
Think about some of the stepping stones in Joseph’s life. He had the promise, the dream that he would rule the nation; a stone in the right direction. Then he was thrown into a pit, a stone the opposite way, still a part of God’s plan. Potiphar’s wife lied about him and put him in prison; 2 stones going the wrong direction. In prison, a friend, another inmate, got out, forgot all about Joseph; another stone the wrong way. Joseph could have thought, this is a pattern, this is my destiny, these stones are going the wrong way. 13 years, disappointments. Betrayals, injustice. Surely he missed God’s plan.
No, God is directing our steps, not just when things are going our way, not just when the doors open, we’re promoted, people are good to us, but even when the doors close, people aren’t good to us, the report wasn’t good. Those stones going in the wrong direction are still in the hand of God. My question is will you trust Him even when you don’t understand it? Will you keep a good attitude knowing that it’s going to turn to your advantage? Just like Joseph, you will come into your U-turn.
The same God that orchestrated him being betrayed, lied about, thrown into a pit orchestrated him being promoted, vindicated, taking the throne, fulfilling his dream.
Listen, don’t be discouraged by what you’re going through. Your time is coming. Where you are is not where you’re staying. You may be in the valley, God allowed you to go there, not so you could stay but so you could come up to a higher mountain. God has new levels in store for you.
In Genesis 15, God told the Israelites that He was taking them into a foreign land; they would be mistreated, suffer hardships. He was saying there will be negative stepping stones going in the wrong direction. You will be tempted to think it will never work out.
But God gave them the promise. You’ll go through difficulties but afterwards you will come out with go out with great abundance. Friends, there will always be an afterwards. Every person goes through unfair situations, uncomfortable situations; we don’t like it but it’s a part of God’s plan. If you’ll keep passing the test, doing the right thing when the wrong thing is happening, afterwards you will come out promoted, increased, stronger, healthier, happier, blessed with great abundance. Now, don’t get discouraged by the problem. It’s all a part of the process that God uses to bring about the promise. God is not just going to bring you out, He’s going to bring you out better. He’s directing your steps, He’s still in control of your life, and nothing that’s happened to you is a surprise to God. He allowed that difficulty not to defeat you but to promote you. God is saying to us what He said to the Israelites. If you will keep moving forward, after hardship, after the breakup, after the disappointment, there will be great joy, great opportunities, great health, great relationships, and great abundance coming your way.
A few years after Victoria and I were married, we received an unexpected tax bill in the mail. The person we hired to do our tax return lived in another state; he was unfamiliar with a certain tax law in Texas. Now we owed thousands of dollars. We were a young couple, saving up for a down payment for a home; this was going to take all of our funds.
To make matters worse, more than half of what we owed was because of penalties. I thought God this is not fair, I hired a professional, he made a mess and now I’m having to pay for his mistakes. This all happened around Christmas that year. We did our best to have a joyful spirit but in the back of our minds we would always feel the weight of this problem. We ended up finding a man to help us get it straightened out. He was a tax attorney.
For a couple of weeks, he was at our house every night, going over documents, filling out new forms. We would eat together, run errands together, we ended up becoming good friends. 10 years later, I was working here at the Church at Lakewood in the television ministry, my parents were the pastor, after one service a man came up and said, Joel my cousin has a construction permit for the last full-power commercial television station in Houston; he would like you to be a part of it.
Well, a TV station in a major market is extremely valuable. Now I was young, I didn’t know anything about negotiating a contract for a television station. Then I thought, I’ll call my attorney friend, the one I met during my tax issue. 3 months later, we had a contract. He put the station on the air. My father went to be with the Lord and I became the pastor. 4 years later, we acquired this place, the former Compaq Center. It was going to cost about a hundred million dollars to renovate. We decided to sell the station. We sold it for a huge profit. Those funds were instrumental in us being able to renovate this facility. But it all started with that tax issue. What I thought was a setback was really a setup to do something greater. For a season, I was going the opposite direction.
But if I had not had that problem, I would never have met the tax attorney. Without my attorney friend, I would never have pursued the television station. Without the station, we may not have had the funds to move into this facility. That difficulty was strategically orchestrated by God. At the time, I didn’t understand it. I thought, God this is ruining our Christmas. This is not right. I could hear God whispering, Joel trust me, I know what I’m doing, it may be uncomfortable, you may not like it, but it’s ultimately going to work to your advantage.
The longer I live, the more I realize everything is working for our good. We don’t like the disappointments, we don’t like when a friend betrays us, we don’t like a closed door, but if it didn’t happen you wouldn’t make it into the fullness of your destiny.
I know a gentleman, he’s in his late 70s and he was in his bedroom, in a ladder, taking a heavy mirror off the wall. He got the mirror off but when he did, he lost his balance and began to fall backward. He threw the mirror. When he fell, he hit the dresser and he broke a bunch of his ribs. Took him to the hospital and the doctor just happened to notice the main artery in his neck was 98% blocked. Any moment he could have a major stroke and probably not survive. The radiologist told him, you’re a walking time bomb. We’ve got to do a procedure right now. They did the procedure and everything went well. My point is, had he not had that fall, without that difficulty, he wouldn’t have known that he was in grave danger.
See, every setback is not the enemy. We don’t like disappointments, the uncomfortable times, but when you realize God is strategically directing your steps nothing can happen without God’s permission then you will not be frustrated. Friends, the enemy is not in control of your life; God is in control of your life. And yes there are forces of darkness that come against us but like with Job, Satan had to ask permission to even pass Job.
If that disappointment, that bad break, was going to serve no purpose, God would have never allowed it. Quit fighting everything that doesn’t go your way. God has you in the palm of His hand. Nothing can snatch you away. You may not like what you have gone through but every difficulty has deposited something on the inside. You wouldn’t be who you are today or where you are today without the difficult times. In that opposition, God was creating opportunity. He was developing you, repositioning you, getting you prepared for greater abundance.
A while back, Victoria lost a ring that her mother had given her. It was a diamond band that had been in the family for several generations. Sometimes when we would travel Victoria would hide the ring in different places in the house. So, for months and months, we searched everywhere; we looked in every drawer, every cabinet, and every pocket. I took out every seat cushion; I looked in the seat, in the couch, under the couch, under the bed; that ring was nowhere to be found. At one point, Victoria’s mom noticed that she hadn’t been wearing the ring and asked about it. Victoria said, oh mom I’ve got it put away in a real safe place. Oh yeah so safe we can’t even find it.
About 3 years later, we were driving home late one night from Victoria, Texas. It was after midnight; I was very tired and ready to get home. Victoria kept saying Joel you’d better slow down, you’re going to get a ticket. I said, I am not going to get a ticket. I was just over 70, the speed limit was 65, I was out in the middle of the country in the middle of the night. There wasn’t a car on the road. All of sudden, I looked in the rearview mirror and there was these red lights flashing. I looked at Victoria and said, you made me get this ticket.
She called it into existence. The officer came up and I handed him my Driver’s License. He said, I need to see your proof of insurance. Victoria opened the glove compartment and started looking. We could find every document except our current insurance. She finally pulled everything out of the compartment, started digging in back of there, got the office standing right there, very nerve racking. The middle of the night, we couldn’t see anything. She was maneuvering her hand back and forth. At one point, she felt something sharp way down in the back. She thought, what is this?
And she struggled and struggled, and finally got it out. It was the ring she had been looking for, for 3 ½ years. Now, I still don’t understand why God used my pain to find her ring. That doesn’t make sense. Victoria was so excited, she forgot about the insurance card. She was over there rejoicing and here I was about to go to jail. She ended up finding the current insurance card that we needed, on the very top of the stack. It was one of the first things that she looked at. It was almost like God caused her to overlook it.
I handed it to the officer, he said, are you that minister? I said, I am. He said, if I come to Houston, will you save me a seat in your Church? I said, I’ll save you a whole section. He handed it back and said goodnight, be careful, you can go. Sometimes, what we think is a setback is really a setup for God to do something great. God knew we would never dig way back in that glove box unless there was a police officer standing there in the middle of the night.
God works in mysterious ways. Everything about your life has been strategically ordained. You may not understand it, it may not make sense. That’s what faith is all about. Some of you are living frustrated, upset, because of what somebody said, didn’t work out. Come back to that place of peace. It’s not going to work against you. It’s going to work for you. Like God promised the Israelites, I believe and declare you’re coming in to an afterwards. After the storm, after the difficulty, there will be great joy. Great health, great relationships, great opportunities, great abundance coming your way. In Jesus’ name. Amen if you receive it.
**
I’d like to start with something funny. These are just jokes, don’t anybody be offended by them. But I heard about these 3 aspiring psychiatrists. They were taking their first test on emotional extremes. The professor asked the first student from Harvard, what’s the opposite of sadness? He replied, happiness. He asked the second student from Yale, what’s the opposite of depression? He replied, joy. He asked the third student from Texas, Indiana, what’s the opposite of woe? He looked kind of puzzled. He finally replied, Giddy Up.
Alright. Hold up your Bible. Say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today, I will be taught the word of God. I boldly confess; my mind is alert, my heart is receptive, I will never be the same. In Jesus’ name, God bless you.
I want to talk to you today about how you are uncontainable. When God created us, he put seeds of increase on the inside. We were never made to reach one level and stop. We were created to grow, to move forward, to increase. We should constantly be breaking barriers of the past. Taking new ground for our family and advancing God’s Kingdom. But throughout our life there will always be forces to try to keep us where we are. They can’t stop the progress that we’ve made. But they’ll do their best to contain us, to keep us in a box, and to lean into our influence.
Not long ago, the swine flu came on the scene. Many experts believe that it started from Mexico. They immediately shut the city down; no one could come or go. It looked like a ghost town. No traffic, no people, no business. What were they doing? Trying to contain it. They knew it might be contagious. And if it got past a few people, it could multiply and spread all over. And that ended up happening; eventually it couldn’t be contained.
And that’s the way the forces of darkness try to work against us. They’re constantly trying to push us down. Limit our influence. Keep us from taking any new ground. But can I give you some good news today? You are uncontainable. The forces that are in you are greater than the forces that are trying to contain you. And, if you’re going to become everything God’s created you to be, you can’t get stuck in a rut and think you’ve reached your limits. You’ve got to keep stretching your faith, looking for new opportunities, new ideas, and new ways to expand your influence.
When I was 12 years old, I played football. A friend of mine was on their opposing team; he was on their running back. He was very fast, very quick, almost impossible to stop. The week we were going to play his team, our coach came up with a special defence. He put twice as many guys on his side. The phrase he used all week was, “contain him.” I must have heard that phrase a thousand times. The coach had us focus one group on the outside and one group on the inside. We worked and worked, trying to figure out how to stop him. But when the game rolled around, it was like we had not even practiced. He was so much quicker than us. The coach could have put the whole team on him; he still would have gotten by. Even when we were able to grab him, it was like he was covered with oil. We couldn’t hang on. He would twist and turn and always get away.
What was the problem? He was uncontainable. That’s the way I want you to see yourself. You have the spirit of the living God on the inside. His anointing on your life is just like oil. When something tries to stop you, hold you down, it doesn’t have a chance. In your imagination, you just twist and turn and see that sliding off. You are uncontainable.
But some of you today have gotten complacent and you’ve settled where you are. You believe those lies that you’ve gone as far as you can go, you’ve made too many mistakes. You come from the wrong family. You’ve got this handicap. Well, I’m here to infect you with a virus. It’s a good virus, a God virus. It says you were made for more, to influence more, to accomplish more, love more, to give more, to have more. Friends, I’ve got to warn you today, I’m highly contagious and I’m infecting you with faith. I’m infecting you with vision. I’m infecting you with joy.
God is saying, you have not touched the surface of what He has in store for you. He is going to take you places that you’ve never dreamed of. He’s going to bring opportunities that give you amazing influence. You have not seen your best days, they’re still out in front of you. Now you’ve got to dig your heels in and say, I will not be contained, by people, by the way I was raised, by mistakes I’ve made, by some injustice, disappointment or even handicap. no I have my mind made up; where I am is not where I’m staying. I’m rising higher. I’m going to be a barrier breaker. I’m going to take new ground for God’s Kingdom.
It’s time for us, as Gods people, to rise up and become leaders and have influence and respect and credibility. And not just in our own circle but in the marketplace. That means in the general public, in the schools, in the government, arts, sports, entertaining. We’re not supposed to hide our gifts and go around feeling like we’re second class, we don’t have that much to offer. No, put your shoulders back, hold your head up high. You are a child of the Most High God. God breathed His life into you; you have something incredible to offer. In the coming days, God is going to increase your influence.
I love the story in Acts 4, Peter and John had prayed for people and they had gotten well. Great miracles had taken place. They had a big service and all kinds of good things happened. But the city leaders didn’t know what to do with them. They weren’t for them; they didn’t fit in their box. Instead of being happy about it, they said in Acts 4:16 and 4:17, we cannot deny that a notable miracle has taken place. But here’s our plan that it spread no further.
They were saying, in effect, we’re just going to push them down, lessen their influence, and try to contain them. Peter and John understood this principle. They know we cannot be contained. The dream God put in our hearts, as long as we stay in faith, nothing can shut it down.
And that message was not restricted. It spread like wildflower and here’s we’re still talking about it today. What am I saying? You cannot be contained. People may try to push you down. Somebody may try to destroy you and close some doors. But if you’ll just keep pushing forward, shaking that off, God will open up doors that no man can shut.
God will raise you up, even though somebody else is trying to push you down. I think about Nelson Mandela. He was put in prison because he opposed the government of apartheid. The leaders thought they had finally gotten rid of him, they wouldn’t have to deal with his opposition anymore. Mr. Mandela could have thought, I did my best, gave it my all, I guess it wasn’t meant to be. Nelson Mandela knew he couldn’t be contained by people, by injustice, by racism, by hatred, even by prison walls. Even 27 years later, he walked out a free man. Eventually he became President of that same country and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Friends, what God has destined for your life, will come to fulfillment. Some of you think you have too many obstacles, and you’ve had too many closed doors. And it’s been too long. You don’t see how it could ever happen. Well, you’ve got to get your fire back, get your dream back. It may look impossible, but God is saying, that setback cannot contain you. That injustice, that disappointment, that bad break cannot hold you down. If you would get rid of that limited mentality and press forward in faith, God will still get you to where you’re supposed to be.
That’s what happened to the Apostle Paul. He was put in prison for spreading the good news. Paul could have gotten depressed, discouraged, given up. Instead, his attitude was, I may not be able to go out and minister but I do have a pen, I do have a piece of paper. I can write. He ended up writing much of the New Testament from a prison cell. They thought they were containing him but it did just the opposite. It backfired. Paul had more influence with his writings than he ever did in person. Now, I want you to get this down in your spirit: God is going to increase your influence.
The Scripture talks about how God will cause His light to shine down on us. His faith to shine down on us. That’s His favor. You need to start expecting this favor as never before. God wants you to be a barrier breaker. He wants you to take new ground for the Kingdom.
But it seems like in days past the Church has been seen as kind of secondary. That’s for people that don’t have anything better to do. We’ve fallen into that mentality at times. We think well I’m not that talented, I don’t have too much to offer, and too often we thought just let us take the leftovers. We can’t afford anything. If you can just give us a discount, if you can just please help us. No influence, no abundant mentality. In fact, this is exactly how my father started out.
My dad grew up extremely poor and he developed a barely get by mentality. He never thought he would have enough and he certainly never thought he would have any influence. It took him years and years to get rid of a poverty mindset, a second-class mentality. One day, he realized what I’m telling you. He didn’t have to be contained by how he was raised; rather, he was created to live an abundant life. He developed a new mindset. I remember, one time my father was at the store to buy a suit. When the salesperson found out he was a minister. He said to my father, let me go talk to my manager; maybe we can give you a minister’s discount. Years earlier, my father would have been jumping up and down, rejoicing, God you’re meeting my needs. And my dad loved to get a good deal; we’re certainly not against that. But he had come through so much poverty and lack and defeat; that just didn’t sit well with him.
He said, listen brother, I appreciate you wanting to help me but I’ve got to tell you I don’t need a minister’s discount. I am not a beggar, I’m not looking for a handout, I am not second-class; I am a child of the Most High God. I am blessed, I am prosperous. And I am well able to pay the full price. That man looked at him and said, man I have never met a minister like you. What was that? My father was a barrier breaker. He believed that he could rise higher and he didn’t have to be contained by how he was raised and what he saw modeled growing up. He saw God do amazing things in his life.
But, too often, God’s people have seen themselves as second-class and poor and defeated and let me just barely scrape by, no influence, no respect, and credibility. Like it should be from our peers. Bit thank God this is a new day, there is a new generation rising up. People that say, I know who I am, a child of Almighty God, and I don’t have to be contained by how I was raised, by what I’ve seen in the past. I know I am a barrier breaker. I am a person of influence, so I’m going to move forward and take new ground, not just for my family but I’m going to advance God’s Kingdom.
Friends, it all starts in our thinking. Don’t be contained in your mind. Who told you, you can’t rise any higher? Who told you, you’ll never be successful? You’ll never own that nice house, you’ll never be in management? You’ll never have any more influence?
Those are lies from the enemy. Let me tell you what I know about you. Some of you are going to write a book that will touch millions of people. Some of you will develop medicine that will impact our world. Some of you will see your movies at the top of the charts. Some of you will have a ministry that will shake our nation. Some of you will develop software that will revolutionize business. Some of you will start a company that will be a global force in the economy. Some of you will be the next leaders of your community, of your city, of your state. Even of your nation.
Don’t you dare sit back and say, well that couldn’t be me Joel. I don’t have the education, I’m not that smart, I don’t have the contacts. No, you’ve got to start seeing yourself differently. You’re a barrier breaker, you are uncontainable. You’ve got so much talent in you, so much potential; there are seeds of greatness on the inside. If you will break free from a limited mindset and embrace a vision, you will see God take you places you’ve never even dreamed of.
That’s what God has done for us. I think about the fact that we’re sitting in this beautiful facility today. I tried to go the traditional route and buy some property and build a sanctuary on it. But God’s dream for our life is always so much bigger than our own. God gave us this beautiful former sports facility, the premiere auditorium, in the fourth largest city in America. What was that? We broke barriers. God helped us to pave the way, to go further. Now other people can come behind us and do the same thing.
And, you know, it’s not just about being bigger. It’s not just about the size. It’s about advancing the Kingdom.
It’s about making a mark in our generation. That’s the way God wants it to be. Every generation should increase. Our former campus was on very side streets in the rural section of town. Great people over there but over time it had really gotten run down. Over time, people used to say to my parents, what are you doing still over here in this part of town? Some of them even ridiculed them, saw them as second-class. But isn’t it interesting how God has a way of always giving you the last laugh. Today, we’re not on a side street. We’re on the second-busiest freeway in the nation, sitting on a prime piece of property. God didn’t just give us a building; He increased our influence.
It’s happening all over. I think about when I was growing up. You just heard Christian music in our Church services. Maybe ever once in a while through the years other radio stations would play it, but not that much. But this is a new day. A couple of months ago, I was watching a ballgame and a national commercial came on for a cellphone company. The music in the background was. You are good all the time, you are good. It’s the song that Israel wrote that we sing all of the time. What’s happening? We can’t be contained. We’re dangerous. We’re on the loose. Don’t you know the enemy is having a nervous breakdown?
They tried to stop us from building a new sanctuary and God blessed us with a premiere sports facility. They tried to push down your talent, try to contain you, but you pop up on commercials, movies, on the sports field. People today are not ashamed of their faith. Even in the business world, people are not afraid to admit, you know what, and my talent comes from the Lord. He’s the one giving me my skills.
A few months back, my children were watching American Idol. At the end of the program, all of the contestants came back on and they started singing a song that our friend Darlene Zschech wrote, Shout to the Lord All the Earth Let us Sing. Not on a church program but on the #1 program in all of television. It can’t be contained. I want you to get this down in your spirit. God is going to increase your influence. He’s going to cause your gifts and talents to come out in a greater way. His face is shining down on you right now. You’ve got to get rid of every limited, not talented, don’t have what it takes, second-class mentality.
You have exactly what you need. There are, in you right now, gifts, talents, ideas, inventions, books, movies. They are just waiting to come out. It’s going to be like an explosion. You’d better get ready; God is about to thrust you into a new level of your destiny. You cannot be contained. It’s been said that the most famous sports facility in the world is Yankee Stadium. A while back, when they were finishing building their new ballpark, someone from their organization called. They invited us to come and bring one of our nights of hope and be the first non-baseball event in the new Yankee Stadium. When my dad told me, I thought they were joking. I said, why would they want to invite me? They could invite the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elvis? But instead, they invited this good-looking minister from Texas. What was God doing? Increasing our influence. God was opening doors that no man can shut. We were able to take new ground in the Kingdom.
So often we think, nothing like that will happen for me. You don’t know my circumstances, Joel, you don’t know what I’ve been through. God is not limited by your circumstances. God is not contained by your education, by your environment, how you were raised. All God has to do is breathe in your direction. All He has to do is blow the wind of His favor your way.
You could be standing at the very back of the line but if the winds change and blow the other direction instead of being last you’ll be first. A couple of years ago I as at the amusement park with our 2 children. We were waiting in this very long line for a popular ride.
At first, it was all single file but when you got close to the front you went into this small room and waited to get into this ride. It was about 20 by 20, and we were the first ones in this new batch so we naturally just walked up to the front. But when all of the other people. Most of them were kids; they were so excited and so anxious about getting on somehow they maneuvered their way in front of me. I’m more laidback so I wasn’t going to try to get in front of them and stand our ground. We ended up at the very back of the room, right where we came in.
A couple minutes this young lady came out that worked there. She made announcements and told some instructions about what was going on. She said, everybody’s ready to go? Oh yeah. She said, okay turn around and go right back out the doors you just came in.
Right where we were standing. I wanted to say, nanny nanny boo boo. I thought we would be last, but we were the first. What am I saying? All God has to do is change the direction of the wind and you’ll be first in line. That’s God’s favor in your life. God just has to change the direction and he can blow a Compaq Center your way like He did for us. Or more practical He can throw a new job opportunity, a new person, a new level of His favor. You may feel like today you are at the back of the line, nothing’s going your way, never getting any good breaks. But you need to get ready; God’s wind is about to blow in your direction.
That’s what happened to a friend of mine. You heard the story recently of Dr. Todd Price. He told how he grew up in a small town in Kentucky and he grew up in a lower income family. It never looked like he would make much of his life. But as a young boy, he saw a program on television that talked about how there were starving children, kids that were desperately in need of food, and for $15 a month you could sponsor a child.
Nobody asked him to do it. His parents didn’t encourage him. But he was so moved by that program, at 12 years old he went out and started mowing lawns and he used that money to sponsor a child. That was over 40 years ago, not only has a successful medical practice but this year to date he has given over 250 million dollars’ worth of medicine to needy people around the world. He went from $15 to a quarter of a billion dollars.
Dr. Price is a barrier breaker. He didn’t let the limitations of the past and how he was raised keep him from rising higher. In the natural, it didn’t look like he could ever go to medical school, ever make much of his life. But he didn’t allow those strongholds to take route. Deep down, he knew, he was uncontainable. He knew the Creator of the universe was breathing in his direction.
Today, he’s taking new ground for the Kingdom, he’s making a new mark that cannot erase. I saw a report on television recently about a young girl that has severe autism. Her name is Carly. For years and years she had never spoken a word or communicated in any way. It looked like she was mentally retarded. All through the day, she would just flail her arms, drool and have uncontrollable fits. At 7 years old, the authorities tried to talk her parents into putting her in a special home; they said, she’s never going to get any better. She doesn’t even comprehend the love that you’re showing, much less what you’re constantly saying to her.
Those parents wouldn’t hear of it. They just kept loving her, training her, speaking faith into her.
One day, out of the blue, at 11 years old, Carly sat down at the computer and typed these words: I have autism but this is not who I am; take time to know me before you judge me, I am smart, cute, funny, and I love to have fun. At that point, the parents realized Carly was in there she had just never found a way to communicate. Later she typed, dad thank you for believing in me I know I’m not the easiest child to love but you were always there for me to pick me up when I fall. The father said that was worth every frustration, every sleepless night. They even discovered that Carly has a sense of humor. When asked about her little brother, she sat down and typed, Matthew smells so bad even skunks run and hide. Today at 14 Carly still amazes us. She’s in the process of writing her first novel.
Even though she still has severe autism, she’s still confined to a body that doesn’t function normally, she cannot be contained. I’m asking you today to get rid of the excuses, quit thinking I’m not talented enough, I’ve made too many mistakes, I’ve got this handicap. Don’t let these words sink deep down into your spirit.
You are uncontainable. You’re a barrier breaker. God wants to use you just like you are. To influence others. Get a vision for it. You can set a new standard for your family. If Carly can do it, you can do it. Unlock what’s on the inside. Your seeds of greatness are waiting to take root and grow.
Know this, right now God is breathing in your direction.
Vision is increasing. Faith is rising; dreams are coming back to life. You have not seen your best days. You may have had some victories in your past but what God has in store in your future will supersede anything you can even imagine. Now you’ve got to take the limits off of God and take the limits off of yourself. Quit looking at what you don’t have and what you don’t do and how big your obstacles are.
No, shake that off and have the attitude I am uncontainable. This sickness can’t contain me. I’m a child of the Most High God, I will fulfill my destiny. These people that are trying to push me down, they can’t contain me. If God be for me, who dare be against me. Even these prison bars, they can’t contain me. I may not be able to leave but I can do like the Apostle Paul, I got a pen I can write, my gifts will still come out to the full.
Friends, in the coming days, God is going to bring opportunities for you to increase your influence in amazing ways.
Don’t shrink back in fear, don’t be intimidated, you are well able. You are equipped. You are anointed. Dare to take those steps of faith. Make up your mind. Where I am is not where I’m staying. I’m not going to get comfortable. I’m not going to get stuck in a rut. I know I am uncontainable so I’m going to keep pressing forward. Stretching my faith. Believing for bigger things. Expecting God’s favor in unprecedented ways. I want to declare this over each one of you. You are going to go places that you’ve never dreamed of. You are going to have influence in circles that you’ve never imagined.
You are going to be a barrier breaker. You’re going to take new ground for your family. You’re going to advance God’s Kingdom. Your gifts and talents are going to come out in a greater way. What you’ve seen God do in the past is going to pale in comparison to what God is about to do. Get ready for God’s favor. Get ready for increase. Get ready for blessings. You are uncontainable.