Make The Switch

One prayer we are taught to pray is "not my will your will"....

We can look in the scripture and SEE what God's will is.

Large crowds came and brought many people who were paralyzed or blind or lame or unable to talk. They placed them, and many others, in front of Jesus, and he healed them all.

Matthew 15:30 CEV

Make the switch from "if" to "I know"

When it comes to addictions a lot of the time people will say they are willing to bear "that cross" when they are really giving in to their carnal nature.

He suffered and endured great pain for us, but we thought his suffering was punishment from God.    He was wounded and crushed because of our sins; by taking our punishment, he made us completely well.

Isaiah 53:4‭-‬5 CEV

After being in the wilderness for all of those years no one was sick.

He also brought them out with silver and gold, And there  was none feeble among His tribes.

Psalms 105:37 NKJV

Jehovah Rapha

No one wants you as a friend or cares what happens to you. But I will heal your injuries, and you will get well.

Jeremiah 30:17 CEV

Pray from a place of faith and victory. It's difficult to have faith if you don't think it's something God wants to do.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

Remind God of what he said.

A man with leprosy came to Jesus and knelt down. He begged, “You have the power to make me well, if only you wanted to.”  Jesus felt sorry for the man. So he put his hand on him and said, “I want to! Now you are well.” At once the man's leprosy disappeared, and he was well.

Mark 1:40‭-‬42 CEV

When you know He is an "I want to God" you'll pray bold prayers

Leprosy was contagious, lepers were supposed to walk around yelling "unclean" so that others won't touch them...but Jesus put his hand on him!

God may use sickness but he doesn't send it.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Matthew 7:11 NKJV

Don't take possession of sickness. It's not yours...there is no sickness in Heaven for the Lord to hand out.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who  is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

I Corinthians 6:19‭-‬20 NKJV

You are not a sick person trying to get well; you are a well person fighting off sickness. You are not an addicted person, trying to break free; You are a free person fighting addiction.

So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”

Luke 13:16 NKJV

She was called a daughter of Abraham because that meant she had special privileges, likewise we are children of the most high God

Lakewood was born out of Pastor John and Mama Dodie's switch as they believed Lisa would be healed from a birth injury. Until then Pastor John believed sickness was the will of God then he read this:

Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably.

Hebrews 13:18 NKJV

John's sister Mary.

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan,

Deuteronomy 34:1 NKJV

God told moses to climb a mountain to die. You would think that Moses might not have been able to do that at 120 but he was not frail or failing in sight.

Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.

Deuteronomy 34:7 NKJV

We can go out still climbing mountains.

-Jeniro on the go!

Preparation for this Appointment

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

II Timothy 2:1‭-‬3 NKJV

Many of our preparations come the tribulations and trials.

Readiness

Preventive maintenance checks and services(PMCS) in the United States Army or preventive maintenance inspections (PMI) in the United States Air Force are the checks, services, and maintenanceperformed before, during, and after any type of movement or before the use of all types of military equipment.

To be ready for battle you had to do the same thing over and over until it was second nature because you need to be proficient.

You build up the endurance necessary to complete the task without stopping.

Consistency builds proficiency.

No matter how big the pool is, this is the Lifeguard Training Prerequisite. He must complete the prerequisite prior to registering for a Lifeguarding Course. Swim 300 yards continuously demonstrating breath control and rhythmic breathing. Tread water for 2 minutes using only the legs. Complete a timed event within 1 minute, 40 seconds.

Preparation for THIS appointment

It takes more than book learning...sometimes you'll have to go through things and be transparent with that experience.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Psalms 34:19 NKJV

Transparency helps to reach people for God.

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:3‭-‬5 NKJV

Traditional olive oil processing begins with crushing the olives into a paste. The purpose of the crushing is to facilitate the release of the oil from the vacuoles. 

-Jeniro on the go!

So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!—to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It's the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain.

2 Timothy 2:1‭-‬7 MSG

My Worship Is For Real https://g.co/kgs/8CiQ1o 

I was in Dollar Tree the other night and there was a lady and two kids behind me in the LONG line. One was a big kid, one was a toddler. The bigger one had a pack of glow sticks and the baby was screaming for them so the Mom opened the pack and gave him one, which stopped his tears. He walked around with it smiling, but then the bigger boy took it and the baby started screaming again. Just as the Mom was about to fuss at the older child, he bent the glow sticks and handed them back to the baby. As we walked outside at the same time, the baby noticed that the stick was now glowing and his brother said "I had to break it so you could get the full effect from it." I almost ran because l could hear God saying to me, "I had to break you to show you why I created you. You had to go through it so you could fulfill your purpose." That little baby was happy just swinging that "unbroken" glow stick around in the air because he didn't understand what it was created to do which was "glow". There are some people who will be content just "being" but some of us that God has chosen, we have to be "broken". We have to get sick. We have to lose a job. We go through divorce. We have to bury our spouse, parents, best friend, or our child because, in those moments of desperation, God is breaking us but when the breaking is done, then we will be able to see the reason for which we were created.

#HEAINTDONEWITHMEYET

Be Comfortable Not Knowing

Pastor Joel

We think that we have to have the answer for things to work out.

Sometimes there is no logical solution and we'll just get more uncomfortable trying to figure it out. This os where faith comes in.

When Moses led the Israelites he didn't know how everything would workout but he had faith in where God was taking him.

Sometimes we think it's a lack of faith to not know but take the pressure off, God knows!

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as  yet  there  were none of them.

Psalms 139:16 NKJV

As long as you're on the throne God will step back.

The Compaq Center to Lakewood plan didn't make sense.

Be ok not knowing how.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Proverbs 3:5 NKJV

God's ways are not our ways.

God may not be showing you the future but that doesn't mean it can't be more than you imagine.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Romans 8:26 NKJV

Paul didn't see it as a lack of faith not to know what to pray.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NKJV

He was comfortable not knowing because he knew that whatever happened would work out for his Good.

Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed.

Acts 16:22‭-‬26 NKJV

In the face of prison Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises even though they didn't know how it would work out.

We can't see it because we think natural and God thinks supernatural.

Take the worry time and use it for worship time! 

Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.

Genesis 12:1 NKJV

God didn't tell Abram where he would be going.

So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Genesis 12:4 NKJV

God asked Abraham to sacrifice his promised son.

Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" So he said, "Here I am." Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him  was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The- Lord -Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided."

Genesis 22:1‭-‬2‭, ‬7‭-‬8‭, ‬11‭, ‬13‭-‬14 NKJV

Obey without the details.

-Jeanicia R. Elder a Lakewood Church

The Love of the Father

Johnathan Osteen @ Lakewood Church 

There's many ways to know God. Different people have different ideas of who God is. Through Jesus we received a new way to see God.

You should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, help us to honor your name.

Matthew 6:9 CEV

We can't let who our earthly father wasn't distort who our Godly father is.

We're all His favorite since he's omnipresent and omnipotent.

Some people never see God in this way because they are always criticizing themselves.

Then the Lord asked, "What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him—he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil."

Job 1:8 CEV

Don't let what other people or even you criticize change what you know God thinks about you. 

We have permission to like who we are.

Just as parents are kind to their children, the Lord is kind to all who worship him,

Psalms 103:13 CEV

When we have the right image of God, can move with confidence.

You don't need to through a third party to talk to God. Know nuance of my life is too small...

God made the universe and the atom

... there's no detail to small.

"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes.

Matthew 6:7‭-‬13 MSG

Then a voice from heaven said, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him."

Matthew 3:17 CEV

At this point Jesus hadnt performed any miracles because he's well pleased with me just as I am. He's already approved me and called me a masterpiece.

There's nothing I can do to make God love me any more or any less.

I have loved you, just as my Father has loved me. So remain faithful to my love for you.

John 15:9 CEV

Sometimes we live life trying to pay God back but he took the penalty on our behalf. The first time you ask for forgiveness, God's mercy covered it.

So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.

Hebrews 4:16 CEV

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16 NKJV

You can't go boldly to the thrown if you think that the person sitting there is waiting to punish you. 

If a child is climbing a tree and gets stuck the father won't fuss at him,  he'll help him out of the tree... he won't leave his child hanging 

Luke 15

A child is still a child no matter how the child feels or what the child has done the relationship doesn't  because it's in the blood.

"And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

Luke 15:20 NKJV

"But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time.

Luke 15:22‭-‬24 MSG

-Jeanicia R. Elder at Lakewood Church

It's Worth The Wait

Joel Osteen @ Lakewood Church 

It's easy to get discouraged when things are taking longer that you expected but we have growth that needs to take place before we receive what God has in store.

But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

James 1:4 NKJV

People who play sports are sent to the weight room because lifting weights to build strength and endurance for the game...we need to spend time in the "wait room"

Learn to be patient, so you will please God and be given what he has promised.

Hebrews 10:36 CEV

David didn't take the thrown until 13 years after he was annointed.

Be your best where you are.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NKJV

If things aren't working out then something is working in you. 

The only thing that changes in a weight room is you. 

We live in a microwave society but we serve a crockpot God.

Then he called down a famine on the country, he broke every last blade of wheat. But he sent a man on ahead: Joseph, sold as a slave. They put cruel chains on his ankles, an iron collar around his neck, Until God's word came to the Pharaoh, and God confirmed his promise. God sent the king to release him. The Pharaoh set Joseph free; He appointed him master of his palace, put him in charge of all his business To personally instruct his princes and train his advisors in wisdom.

Psalm 105:16‭-‬22 MSG

There's a price to pay. 

You can't skip the weight room and reach the fullness.

The younger son said to his father, "Give me my share of the property." So the father divided his property between his two sons.

Luke 15:12 CEV

https://bible.com/bible/392/luk.15.12.CEV

When Alexandria turned 18, her parents have her a car. They loved her just as much when she was 5 but a car at 5 would not have been a blessing.

Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living. He had spent everything, when a bad famine spread through that whole land. Soon he had nothing to eat.

Luke 15:13‭-‬14 CEV

The prodigal son wanted his prepared blessing but he wasn't prepared.

David was in the Shepherd's field when Samuel came to anoint the new king.  David's father didn't even call David to come in but the oil didn't flow for any of the brothers.

One day he said, "Samuel, I've rejected Saul, and I refuse to let him be king any longer. Stop feeling sad about him. Put some olive oil in a small container and go visit a man named Jesse, who lives in Bethlehem. I've chosen one of his sons to be my king."  One by one, Jesse told all seven of his sons to go over to Samuel. Finally, Samuel said, "Jesse, the Lord hasn't chosen any of these young men.

1 Samuel 16:1‭, ‬10 CEV

An elephant's gestation is longer than that of a dog became an elephant isnt carrying a puppy...an elephant is carrying something big.

Wait passionately for God , don't leave the path. He'll give you your place in the sun while you watch the wicked lose it.

Psalm 37:34 MSG

Gersson Rosas

Rosas is a native of Bogota, Colombia and will become the NBA's lone Latino top executive. He told ESPN in March he wished there were more Latino people in positions of power within the NBA.

When you come out of the wait room you'll be surprised.

-Jeanicia R. Elder @ Lakewood Church

Your Wings Are Coming

Pastor Joel 

Many times circumstances we see will tell us we're stuck.

So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT

Don't be moved by what you see, be moved by what you know. 

There's nothing about a Caterpillar's circumstances that insinuate that it will ever fly but there's something in his DNA that says otherwise.

There was a drought but Elijah chose to believe what God said

Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there  is the sound of abundance of rain."

I Kings 18:41 NKJV

You can't live a butterfly life with Caterpillar thoughts.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2 NKJV

Faith won't always make sense.

Elijah sent his servant looking for signs of rain 7 times.

....and said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." So he went up and looked, and said, " There  is nothing." And seven times he said, "Go again." Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, "There is a cloud, as small as a man's hand, rising out of the sea!" So he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, 'Prepare your  chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.' "

I Kings 18:43‭-‬44 NKJV

Sometimes things will get worse before they get better even if you're doing the right thing. 

A lot of the time things will get worse before they get better 

A catepillar goes into a cocoon, a dark uncomfortable season, and loses his mobility even though he was believing for wings.

December 2002 after city council voted for Lakewood to have the Compaq Center the company that owned the surrounding property filed a federal law suit and their legal team gave them no hope. The CEO of the company scheduled a meeting and come to find out he watched Lakewood weekly and the CEO's son-in-law was a youth pastor. At the end of the meeting he decided to drop the lawsuit and lease parking.

Abraham and Sarah

Sarah was the wife of Abraham. Hagar was the servant of Sarah. God had promised Abraham many descendants, but, ten years after the promise, Sarah was still unable to have children, and they were both on the verge of becoming too old to have children at all. Sarah chose to give her servant Hagar to Abraham, in accordance with the custom of day, so that Sarah could have a child through her (Genesis 16:2). 

Sarah thought someone else had to fly for her. What God put on Sarah's heart was still on the way and didn't require them to figure out a way to make it happen.

Don't reduce what God promised you to your thinking. If you could do it in your own power then you wouldn't need faith.

You never see a catepillar riding piggyback on a butterfly.

Are you praying that the furniture will go on sale so you can afford it or are you praying that God blesses you with resources to afford it even if it doesn't go on sale

Sometimes we're praying for things to go down when we should be praying that our thinking comes up.

-Jeanicia R. Elder

Recognizing God's Goodness

When you look back over your life you can see God's Goodness on your life and you know He was working behind the scenes to bless you. 

Seeds of faithfulness from your family line made it easier on you and God never lets a seed go unharvested.

When God , your God, ushers you into the land he promised through your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you, you're going to walk into large, bustling cities you didn't build, well-furnished houses you didn't buy, come upon wells you didn't dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn't plant. When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don't forget how you got there— God brought you out of slavery in Egypt.

Deuteronomy 6:10‭-‬12 MSG

https://bible.com/bible/97/deu.6.10-12.MSG

John Osteen's friend Sam Martin always wrote scriptures for John and shared Christ and one day walking hand in hand with John, John gave his life.

You don't have to convict people. Just keep sewing seeds.

"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.

John 15:16 MSG

https://bible.com/bible/97/jhn.15.16.MSG

Be faithful in the small things even when it doesn't seem like anything is happening.

For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord , Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth."

Zechariah 4:10 NKJV

Make sure you don't forget God , your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don't become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God , your God, the God who delivered you from Egyptian slavery; the God who led you through that huge and fearsome wilderness, those desolate, arid badlands crawling with fiery snakes and scorpions; the God who gave you water gushing from hard rock; the God who gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never heard of, in order to give you a taste of the hard life, to test you so that you would be prepared to live well in the days ahead of you.

Deuteronomy 8:11‭-‬16 MSG

Don't ley the miracle of your life become so common place that you forget where God brought you from. Live in awe and remember what God has done.

King Nebuchadnezzar to everyone, everywhere—every race, color, and creed: "Peace and prosperity to all! It is my privilege to report to you the gracious miracles that the High God has done for me. "His miracles are staggering, his wonders are surprising. His kingdom lasts and lasts, his sovereign rule goes on forever.

Daniel 4:1‭-‬3 MSG

A lot of the time we start out recognizing God's goodness but if we let it become common. 

All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Just twelve months later, he was walking on the balcony of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted, "Look at this, Babylon the great! And I built it all by myself, a royal palace adequate to display my honor and glory!"

Daniel 4:28‭-‬30 MSG

We were not created to contain Glory, we were created to give Glory.

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than a voice out of heaven spoke, "This is the verdict on you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your kingdom is taken from you. You will be driven out of human company and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like an ox. The sentence is for seven seasons, enough time to learn that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts whomever he wishes in charge."

Daniel 4:31‭-‬32 MSG

He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good.

Deuteronomy 8:16 NLT

God is ready to bless you in ways that your parents never saw. Those people who were sewing seeds had no idea what was going to spring up.

man·na

/ˈmanə/

noun

1. (in the Bible) the substance miraculously supplied as food to the Israelites in the wilderness (Exod. 16).

   • an unexpected or gratuitous benefit.

     "the cakes were manna from heaven"
   • (in Christian contexts) spiritual nourishment, especially the Eucharist.

"After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, 'What do you mean by doing these things?' "When my sanity returned to me, so did my honor and glory and kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored as head of my kingdom, with even greater honor than before. "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All his acts are just and true, and he is able to humble the proud."

Daniel 4:34‭-‬37 NLT

-Jeniro on the go....