Joel Osteen - Against All Odds

0:00This is Ashley Akinetti from the almost famous podcast. You ever notice you and your spouse keep saying, we need to get away, but you never actually plan anything. That was us until we did something fun and spontaneous. We went to resort pass.com. There are hundreds of hotel resorts, pools and spots and private beaches that you can enjoy. You can spend the day at a luxury resort, pool, spa, massage, without booking an overnight stay. And listen, I may have only been like 15 minutes from home, but it felt like it was a whole different world. And I'm thinking, this is exactly what I needed. So just go to resort pass.com, choose your resort, choose your day, luxury, resort, day passes, start at just $1,500. Once you post your daycation, people are gonna ask where you are. Go to resort pass.com slash almost famous and use the promo code almost famous to get $20 off when you spend $100. That's code almost famous at resort pass.com slash almost famous.

1:25Your path to pharmacy can be closer than you think. West Coast University's hybrid doctor of pharmacy program can be completed in as little as 33 months and no bachelor's degree is required to apply. If you've started pharmacy coursework elsewhere, WCU may accept eligible transfer credits to help students keep moving forward. Learn online, train hands-on at our Center for Graduate Studies in Los Angeles and prepare for real world pharmacy practice. West Coast University, as realistic community, is a very important place for the community. In the past few years, West Coast University, as realistic gets, visit West Coast University dot edu. WCU cannot guarantee employment. It's not a coincidence that Isaac experienced one of the greatest blessings of his life. In the middle of the famine against all odds, the scripture says his harvest was tremendous, a hundred times what he planted. If it stopped there, it would be great. Blessings with no trouble. Blessings with everyone happy for you. It's all your friend celebrating, but it goes on to say, soon,

2:26the Philistines were jealous. When you see great blessing, soon someone will not understand. Soon, a family member will get jealous. Soon, a coworker will try to stir up trouble. And this is not to discourage you, but to prepare you. If you're prepared, you don't get better. You don't try to straighten them out. You do like Isaac and say, God, I know with the blessing comes persecution. So I'm going to pass this test. Father, thank you that you're in control. Thank you that you're fighting my battles. Thank you that what you started, no person can stop. Stay on the high road. Don't pay attention to jealous, small-minded people. When Joel, they clogged up my wells. They did me wrong. God saw it. He blessed you in the famine. Do you think they can stop him from blessing you again? He knows how to unclog wells. He knows how to silence your accusers. The scripture says, those that have hated you will be put to shame.

3:29Their humiliation will be obvious to all. And sometimes the way God pays you back is he keeps blessing you when others are trying to discredit you. He keeps taking you up when they're doing their best to pull you down. I work behind the scenes here at Lakewood for 17 years. When my father went to be with the Lord, I stepped up to pastor the church. I didn't think I would ever be a minister, but God suddenly took me from the background to the foreground. Much to my surprise, the church started growing. People started coming and watching in record numbers. With all this influence and favor came persecution. I had never dealt with that. When I was behind the scenes, I didn't have any enemies to speak of and people that were trying to discredit me. I had to learn what I'm telling you. Here's the key, the grace is there to handle it. God doesn't let you face anything that's too much. You have what it takes to not be offended,

4:31to not live defensive, to not let what they say get down in your spirit. God wouldn't have given you the blessing if he hasn't given you the grace to handle it. This doesn't happen automatically. You have to rule your emotions. You have to not dwell on the offense. Not think about what they said. When you're tempted to get better, get upset, take that same time to thank God for how He blessed you. Don't let jealous people steal your blessing. Don't let critical people, people that are never going to be for you, keep you from the greatness that God put in you. Jesus had many critics. Many people said hurtful things, things that were untrue. He could have straightened them out, spent time arguing, trying to change their mind. But the scripture says he answered them not a word. He didn't give them the time a day. Don't waste your time trying to change your critics mind.

5:33Don't argue with people that don't matter. What they think of you is not going to stop your destiny. Their opinion is not going to keep you from your purpose. That negative chatter is a distraction. It's the enemy trying to bait you into conflict to get you off course. You can't stop what they're saying, but you can ignore it. You can not let it get down in your spirit. You don't have to respond to the negative. A response gives that person credibility. Don't validate what they're saying by answering them. You have a destiny to fulfill. You have an assignment to accomplish. Do like Jesus and ignore it. This was difficult for me at first. My personality type is to want everybody to like me. But I had to learn that some people are not going to like you and that's okay. Some people are not going to accept you and that's fine. Everyone is not supposed to be for you.

6:35But sometimes we're trying to change people's minds that are never going to be for us. You keep honoring God, be in your best, and God will cause the people you need to be for you and he'll take care of your critics. When it's the right time, just like he closed the mouths of hungry lions, he'll close the mouths of those trying to discredit you. That's not your battle. That battle is the Lord's. But if you don't let him fight it, you'll live defensive, trying to prove to people that you're okay, prove to them that you're not what they said. You're letting them change who you are. You don't need them to be for you. Having them on your side, changing their mind is not going to move you forward. The best response is let your life, your success, your example do the talking. When I had been ministering for a few years, I was still young and not sure of myself. I was at a book signing in another state.

7:36This lady came up with the newspaper. It was folded in two. On the top half, it had a big picture of me. Big smile, hair just right, good looking. I was feeling good. I had made the paper. Over to the side, it had the word in bold letters positively. I thought that's good. They're saying I'm positive. She asked me to sign it. When I finished, I said, let me look at this. I was proud. I opened it up and under the word positively was the word dangerous. It wasn't a favorable article. Now that picture didn't look so hot. Now I was tempted to be discouraged, offended. Then I thought to myself, is it dangerous to tell people about the goodness of God and give them hope? Let them know they can break addictions, overcome an illness, let go of their past, reach their dreams. Is it dangerous to tell people that they're made in the image of God, a masterpiece, crowned with favor,

8:37royal blood flowing through their veins, with seeds of greatness? I had to make a decision. Was I going to let someone I had never met change who I am? Someone that didn't understand me. There wasn't for me to cause me to be defensive, try to prove to them that I'm not harmful, or was I going to ignore the naysayers, run my race, and let God fight my battles? Don't change who you are for someone that isn't going to be for you no matter what you do. It's not about you, it's about the hundredfold blessing on your life. It's about you having a harvest in a famine like Isaac. It's about you setting a new standard for your family, breaking the addiction, graduating from college. You don't have to respond. You don't have time to deal with every negative comment. Every person that doesn't like or understands you. Be in Isaac. Take the hundredfold and move forward with your life.

9:38The king told Isaac, you're too powerful for us. Like Isaac, you're too powerful for some of your friends. You're too anointed for some of your coworkers. You're too favored for those critics. You're too blessed for those naysayers, where God is taking you, they can't go. The sooner you move on, the sooner you quit responding, the sooner you quit giving the negative your time and attention, the better off you're going to be. You have the grace to rise above it, the grace to ignore it, the grace to not let it bother you. Well, Joel, when they stopped saying things about me, when they changed their mind, then I'll quit being offended, upset, defensive. It's a test. With that blessing came persecution. Are you going to let it keep you from enjoying the blessing? If you focus on the persecution, live sour, trying to straighten people out, it will keep you from the greater blessings that belong to you.

10:39Step into that grace and move forward. This is what David did when he was a teenager out in the shepherd's fields, taking care of his father's sheep. He didn't have much opposition. As long as he was alone in the fields, not having much influence, his gifts still hidden, nobody criticized, nobody tried to stop him. But after he killed Goliath, he became an overnight hero. King Saul eventually sit for David, had him to come to the palace and become his armor bearer. One day Saul overheard people singing. Saul has killed thousands and David has killed tens of thousands. Saul thought, this guy's more popular than I am. Saul became jealous. He couldn't handle David's success. One day while David was playing the heart for Saul, trying to make him feel better, Saul took a spear and threw it at David, trying to kill him. David dodged it and barely missed him.

11:41When God promotes you, gives you more influence, you have to get good at dodging spears. Someone throws an insult, dodged it. Throws jealousy, tries to make you look bad, dodged. Throws criticism, says things that aren't true, dodged. The persecution is a sign that people can see the favor on your life. Saul wasn't throwing spears at any of his other men. He wasn't trying to stop his cheaper staff, his lieutenant, his general. He saw something special on David. He could sense that David had greatness, that stirred up the jealousy. That's why he chased David through the desert. David kept dodging spears, doing the right thing when the wrong thing was happening. Eventually Saul was killed in a battle and David took the throne. You keep dodging the spears, overlooking the wrongs, staying on the high road, and God will take care of your solves. You have to get to the point

12:42where you're not moved by persecution. You're not bothered by the jealousy. Not offended by what someone said. Not losing sleep over those that are throwing spears. You know it's a part of the package. You can't be blessed without persecution. When those spears start coming, that means you're about to take the throne. You're about to see God's favor in a new way. Now don't get bent out of shape by who's against you, what they said. Why do they leave me out? They can't stop your destiny. Where God is going to take you, is going to require greater discipline, greater focus, and greater obedience. There will be plenty of opportunities to pick up their sphere and throw it back, to live defensive, to get baited into conflict. Like with Isaac, when they see God show out in your life, favor you in the famine, prosper you in the pandemic. Some people won't understand. They'll try to discredit you,

13:43find fault, don't take the bait, keep your heart pure. Be good to those that aren't good to you. Overlook what they said. Not all used to bother me, but now I'm comfortable with persecution. I don't fall apart when things come against me. I'm not bothered by the jealousy. I've lived long enough to tell you, God has the final say. He will take care of those that try to stop you. My question is, can you handle the blessing? Can you withstand the persecution? Keep a good attitude with negative chatter? Not be bitter over the jealousy? I already know the answer. Yes, you can. I'm looking at powerful people. I'm looking at focused people, and I'm looking at favored people. You've been grace for every situation. Now tap into that grace. Stay on the high road and get ready.

14:44This is Ashley Akinetti from the almost famous podcast. You ever notice you and your spouse keep saying, we need to get away, but you never actually plan anything. That was us until we did something fun and spontaneous. We went to resortpass.com. There are hundreds of hotel resorts, pools and spots and private beaches that you can enjoy. You can spend the day at a luxury resort, pool spa massage without booking an overnight stay. And listen, I may have only been 15 minutes from home, but it felt like it was a whole different world. And I'm thinking, this is exactly what I needed. So just go to resortpass.com, choose your resort, choose your day, luxury resort day passes, start at just $1,000. Once you post your daycation, people are gonna ask where you are. Go to resortpass.com, slash almost famous, and use the promo code almost famous to get $20 off when you spend $100. That's code almost famous at resortpass.com slash almost famous.

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