A (0:00)

Explaining football to the friend who's just there for the nachos. Hard tailgating from home like a pro with snacks and drinks. Everyone will love an easy win and with Instacart helping deliver The Snack Time MVPs to your door, you're ready for the game in as fast as 30 minutes. So you never miss a play or lose your seat on the couch or have to go head to head for the last chicken wing. Shop game day favorites on instacart and enjoy. $0 delivery fees on your first three grocery orders offer valid for a limited time. Other fees and terms apply.

B (0:31)

Hi, this is Joel in Victoria. Thanks so much for listening to the podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. We believe you're going to have an awesome 2024 healthy, productive and favor filled. God bless you today and enjoy the message. Well, God bless you and we welcome you. It's always a joy to come into your homes. We love you and if you're ever in our area, I hope you'll stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. But thanks so much for tuning in today and thank you again for coming out. And I like to start with something funny each week. And I heard about this group of elderly ladies. They were way up in their 80s. As they were driving down the freeway together, they got pulled over by a police officer. The officer said to the lady driving, ma'am, do you realize you only going 35 miles an hour? She said, yes, officer, I realize that. He said, well, why are you going so slow? She said, because the sign says 35. He kind of laughed and he said, no ma'am, that's the number of the freeway. This is Highway 35. And by the way, why did these other ladies look so terrified? She smiled and said, because we just got off Highway 95. Hold up your Bible and say it like you mean it. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says, 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 forgiving so that you can be free in life. We all have unfair things that happen to us. We can choose to hold on to the hurt, become bitter and angry and let it poison our future. Or we can choose to let it go and trust God to make it up to Us. You may think that you're not able to forgive. They hurt you too badly. Joel, you don't know how I was raised. My ex spouse caused me a lot of pain. This friend betrayed me. I just can't let it go. No, you're not forgiving for their sake. You're forgiving for your own sake. When you forgive, you are taking away their power to hurt you. The mistake we make so often is we hold onto it. We go around bitter and angry. All we're doing is allowing them to continue to hurt us. That other person is out enjoying life, having a good time. We're not hurting them by staying angry. We're just poisoning our own life. I know people. They're still mad at someone that's dead and gone. They're not even alive. But they've got unforgiveness toward their parents, a former boss, an ex spouse. No, it's bad enough that they hurt you once. Don't let them continue to hurt you by staying angry. I've heard it said, when you forgive, you are setting a prisoner free. You will soon realize the prisoner wasn't the other person. Prisoner was you. What they did to you may have been wrong, but my challenge is don't let it ruin the rest of your life. They may have betrayed you, lied about you, mistreated you, but what they did is not worth you missing your destiny. You cannot let one divorce, one betrayal, one bad childhood keep you from the awesome future God has in store. Joseph was betrayed. He was sold into slavery by his brothers. He could have let that one bad break, that one injustice, steal his destiny. No telling how many people in the scripture that we don't read about because they got angry, mad, tried to pay people back, and miss God's best. Don't let that be you. Your destiny is too great to let what somebody did to you keep you from moving forward. And forgiveness is not about just being nice and kind. Oh, I know, Joy. It's the right thing to do. No, forgiveness is about not missing the amazing future that's in front of you now. I know some of you have a valid reason to be angry. You were mistreated when you were younger. Wasn't your fault. You had no control over it. And what those people did was not right. Forgiveness doesn't mean that you're excusing their behavior. Doesn't mean that you're lessening the offense. Nor am I saying you got to go be good friends with them. I'm simply saying you need to let it go. Quit dwelling on It. Quit replaying it in your memory. Quit giving it time and emotional energy. You've got a destiny to fulfill every time. You let it consume you in your thoughts and you go back to it and replay how bad it was and how unfairly you were treated. It's like you're opening up an old wound. When you don't let it go, it won't heal properly. It's like a bruise that won't go away. If you've ever hit your arm really hard and gotten a big bruise, somebody comes over later to give you a hug or accidentally bumps up against it, it's very painful. It's very sensitive. So you'll be overly protective and make sure nobody gets close to it. It's the same way when we've been emotionally bruised. We've been hurt. Somebody did us wrong. If we don't let it heal so the bruise can go away, we too will be overly sensitive. We'll be defensive about the smallest things. We end up not having good relationships. I know ladies that don't trust men because one messed up man did them wrong. One messed up man hurt them and they never let it go. Now they're defensive, they're distrustful, they think all men are bad. All men are out to get them. I had a gentleman tell me several months ago how he enjoys watching me on television. But he said, joel, I don't know if I really trust you. I thought that was odd. And I asked him why. And he explained how 20 years ago he was on a committee at his church and the pastor did him wrong. He got hurt and left the church year after year. He's holding onto that bitterness now. He thinks all ministers are bad. I know he's wrong because this minister's good. Not only that, good looking too. Let me add that. What's his problem? He's still bruised. The scripture says Jesus came to set at liberty them that are bruised. That indicates we're not really free. When we're bruised, we're not at liberty. And if you want the bruise to go away, if you want to walk in the freedom that belongs to you, you simply need to forgive the wrongs, let it go and move forward in life. There's nothing the enemy would love anymore than for you to let one bad thing that happen, one messed up person that hurt you, one injustice to ruin the rest of your life. You've got to put your foot down and say, no way. My destiny is too great, my future is too bright. My God is too big to let what somebody did or didn't do to me, cause me to get stuck where I am. I'm going to shake that off and press forward into the bright future that God has in store. I had a young lady tell me recently how when she was a little girl, she was abused by several men in her life. It's very unfair. She grew up confused and ashamed, thinking that it was her fault. She didn't trust men, but she would do anything to try to please them. That's all she had known on the inside. She was bitter, angry. She had a chip on her shoulder. For 26 years, she had not spoken to her father. She hated him. Every time she thought about him, she would become more bitter, more angry. One day she heard me talking about what I'm telling you that when we forgive, it releases us to move forward. Nothing that somebody's done to us has to keep us from our destiny. At 36 years of age, she made a special trip to another city and found her father. When he saw her, his eyes got this big. She said, dad, what you did to me was wrong. And I've hated you every day of my life. But I cannot live with this poison anymore. So I've come here to tell you that I'm forgiving you for everything you've done to me. She said when she left that day, she felt like she was being released from prison. Up to that point, she had floundered in life, in and out of relationships, several different jobs. Today, 10 years later, she's happily married. She's got three beautiful children. She owns her own successful business. She said, your life could not be any better. It all started when she let it go. Forgive so that you can be free. Don't let that person that hurt you keep you in prison. If you will let it go, God will do for you what he did for her, what he did for Joseph. He'll take what was meant for your harm and he'll use it to your advantage. It may have been painful, but don't waste your pain. God wants to use the pain to promote you. Hebrews 10:30 says, God is a just God. He will repay the exact compensation owed us. He will settle and solve the cases of his people. Some of you today, you need some cases settled. You've had unfair things happen. Maybe somebody stole your childhood. Or somebody left you with a bunch of children to raise by yourself. Perhaps a business partner cheated you. You lost a lot of money. You could easily be angry, bitter, trying to pay them back. No. Be encouraged. God is a just God. He knows every person that's hurt you. He's seen every person that's violated you. Every person that left you alone and afraid. Nobody else may have seen it, but God saw it. And he knew it wasn't right. He's saying, today, I'm going to settle your cases. I'm going to make your wrongs right. I'm not only going to pay you back what you deserve, but God promised in Isaiah he will pay you back double every unfair thing that's happened. That means every person that lied about you, tried to make you look bad, let it go and double is coming. Those people that violated you, forgive them and double is on its way. That business partner that cheated you, get rid of the resentment and double's coming. That spouse that was unfaithful, forgive and you're going to see double the joy, double the peace, double the fulfillment. Friends, God never brings you out the same. He will make the enemy pay for bringing that injustice into your life. Now you got to do your part and let it go. As long as you're going around with resentment, holding a grudge. It happened 30 years ago, but you're still angry. Five years ago, that co worker did you wrong, but you're still trying to figure out how to pay him back. No. Let God be your Vindicator. Let God settle your cases. Some of you today, you feel guilty about something that wasn't even your fault. People mistreated you when you were growing up. Now there's a nagging feeling on the inside, like something's wrong with you, like you were to blame. No, you cannot help the way people treated you when you were younger. If somebody took advantage or did you wrong, you don't have to feel ashamed. Don't live guilty. It's not your fault. It's the other person's fault. Hold your head up high. You are a child of the most high God. Your value did not go down because one messed up person did you wrong. You are still the apple of God's eye. You are still his most prized possession. You still have seeds of greatness on the inside. Know this life is not always fair. But God is fair. And if you will let go of the shame, the blame and press forward, God will cause the rest of your life to be better than it would have been if that never would have happened. He will pay you back with more. Now I've learned God will not allow one of his children to be constantly mistreated and taken advantage of. If you're in a situation like that where somebody's doing you wrong or Somebody has done you wrong. Don't get depressed. Don't give up on life. You keep believing, knowing that payday is on its way. If your husband packed up and ran off with another woman, you don't have to feel ashamed. Don't listen to those voices telling you you're not good enough, you're not attractive enough. Those are all lies. You don't have the problem. He has the problem. If he'll do that to you, he'll do it to the next woman. You keep your head held high, knowing that the creator of the universe is going to settle your cases. He's going to make your wrongs right, and it'll help us to forgive if we can realize the people that hurt us, they have problems of their own. They have issues. Somebody lashes out, mistreats you. Somebody abandons you, rejected you. They've got unresolved issues down in here that they're not dealing with. And that doesn't excuse their behavior. But bottom line is somebody hurt them. Somebody didn't give them what they needed. If you will take a merciful approach and say, God, I know what they did to me was wrong. God, they hurt me. It wasn't right. But, God, I'm not going to try to pay them back. I'm not going to try to get revenge. God, I'm asking you to heal them of their hurts. God. Give them what they need. When you can pray for your enemies, when you can bless those that have done you wrong, like the scripture says, might as well get ready. God is going to show up to settle your own cases. I heard a story about this young man, 14 years old. He was raised in a very abusive environment. His father was an alcoholic, and he would come home in these violent rages. There was no peace in this home. They all lived on edge. This young man was afraid for his life, feared for his mother's life. One night, the dad came home drunk and he began to abuse the mom. Not just verbally, but this time physically. And this young man, 14 years old, stepped in there to protect his mom. And he and his dad got into this big fist fight. And long story short, the father kicked him out of the house. He said, I never want to see your face again. And if you ever set foot in this house, it'll be the last time that you do. That young man left that night so dejected, despondent, he was going to end his life. He was standing on the side of a bridge in the middle of the night, about to jump. And these people weren't religious People, they didn't attend church anywhere. But all of a sudden, he said he heard a voice saying to him as clearly as I'm talking to you, saying, don't jump. I'll be your father. I'll be your protector. I'll take care of you. That was his heavenly father showing up to bring justice into his life. The psalmist. Even if my father and mother forsake me, God will adopt me as his very own child. From that day forward, that young man was on his own. Fourteen years old, he was filled with all these hurts and pain, so much rejection. But he made a decision early on that he was not going to hate his father. He forgave him and moved on with his life. He ended up becoming a minister. Over the years, he reached out to his father, but he wouldn't have anything to do with him. 22 years later, one Sunday morning, he was in the pulpit. Out of the blue, his father walked in the back of the church. He hadn't seen him since that day when he was 14 years old. The day of that big fight. After the service, the father came down to the altar, big tears running down his cheeks. He not only asked his son to forgive him, but. But that day, he gave his life to the Lord. Friends, God is a just God. I don't know how long it may take, but God is faithful. He will make your wrongs right. He will restore what the enemy has stolen. It doesn't matter how bad they hurt you or how wrong they were. If you let it go, God will settle your cases. After the service, the father and son begin to talk. And they this father told the son things that he had never known before. How his father was an alcoholic. His father was very abusive to his mother. This father was raised in such a dysfunctional home, by the time he was six, he had already lived with four different families. And again, I'm not making excuses for anybody's behavior, but the point I'm making is hurting people usually hurt other people. This father had all that anger and bitterness and rejection on the inside. Instead of letting it go, he made the mistake of carrying it around. He didn't realize he was passing it down to the next generation. When Jesus rose from the dead, he came back to talk to his disciples. He said something interesting. Whatever sins you forgive will be forgiven. Whatever sins you retain will be retained. When we retain something, it means we hold onto it. I believe one thing God is saying in this passage is when we hold on to the wrongs that people have done, when we retain their sin, it not only contaminates us, but that sin is like a seed. It can actually produce in us exactly what they did. In other words, when you don't forgive, easy to become what you hate. I know a young lady that hated her father. He ran around on her mother. She didn't have a good childhood. She resented the fact that her father was unfaithful and he wasn't there for the children. She couldn't stand that man. But do you know, when this young lady grew up and got married, she ended up running around on her husband. She was unfaithful. She wasn't there for her children. She became exactly what she hated in her father. That's why it's so important to let it go and forgive the wrongs we hold onto, the sins we retain. They can produce in us exactly what we don't want. And if you were raised in a dysfunctional home, maybe violence, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, whatever. Don't let that poison get on the inside of you. Why don't you be the one to set a new standard for your family? Why don't you be the one to rise up and make a difference? Are you going to hold on to the anger, the unforgiveness, and pass it down to the next generation? Or are you going to be like the young men we talked about earlier and just let it go so you can see your family go to a new level? Somehow that young man knew that God would settle his case. Even though it took a long time, God was faithful. He brought justice into his life. God will do the same thing for you. Now. I know it can be difficult to forgive, especially when people have hurt us badly. But God will never ask us to do something and not give us the power to do it. Forgiveness is a process. It doesn't happen overnight. You just snap your fingers, pray one prayer, and then it's gone. You never think about it? Not at all. It's a process that has to be walked out. And if you have the desire to forgive and every day you will ask God to help you, then little by little, those negative feelings will get less and less. One day you'll look up and that won't affect you at all. Matthew, chapter six. Jesus prayed the Lord's Prayer in one part. He said, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. When God talks about debts, he's just not talking about monetary debts. He's talking. He's talking about when people hurt us, when people do us wrong. God refers to that as a debt. It's because when somebody mistreats us, down deep, we feel like they owe us something. Human nature says, you hurt me, now I want justice. You did me wrong, now you've got to pay me back. The problem is, many times we're trying to collect a debt that only God can pay. That father that abused his daughter, he can't give her her innocence back. Only God can. That friend that cheated you, or those parents, if you're grown now, they can't pay you back for not having a loving childhood. That spouse that was unfaithful, he can't pay you back for the pain that he's caused. Only God can truly pay you back. If you want to be restored, if you want to be whole, if you want to be free, you need to get on God's payroll. He knows how to make your wrongs right. God knows how to bring justice into your life. Now quit expecting people to make it up to you. They can't give you what they don't have. Jesus told a parable about a man that owed 10,000 talents. It would be like $10 million today. The scripture says he could not pay. Say he didn't want to. It said he could not. He didn't have the means to pay. If you're always looking to people to pay you back for the wrongs they've done, you're going to live a frustrated life. I've known people that have gone through a bitter divorce. They get into a new relationship, a new marriage, and they expect this new person to pay them back for all the wrongs that somebody else has done. They're always trying to collect that debt. They end up ruining that relationship as well. Don't punish the person you're married to now for something that happened years ago when they weren't even around. They can't pay you back. Why don't you get on God's payroll? I had a man tell me a while back how he was wronged in a business decision. He ended up losing his entire business. This happened years ago. He was still mad at the world. He'd been with several different companies, couldn't keep a job. He's got all this bitterness on the inside, thinking that people owed him something, expecting them to pay him back. What was his problem? He's on the wrong payroll. Our attitude should be God. You know, everything that I've been through, you know, every hurt, every wrong, every tear, and I'm not going to live my life bitter, trying to get people to give me what they don't have. God I'm going to leave it up to you. You promised that you would settle my cases. You said that you would pay me back double for every unfair thing. So God, I'm letting all my family, my friends, my co workers, my neighbors off the hook. And I'm putting my hope, my trust, my confidence in you. When you get on God's payroll, he'll make sure you are well compensated. And some of you today, if you would just let some people off the hook in your life and quit thinking that they owe you something, you would see your life go to a whole new level. They may have been wrong. It may have been their fault, but it's not their fault that they can't pay you back. If you spend your life trying to get from people what only God can give, it'll end up ruining that relationship. The sad thing is you'll take that problem into the next relationship next and the next. So much better to just let God pay you back. Sometimes when I'm looking over our bills, I'll see these big red letters that say paid in full. You've seen one of those big rubber stamps that people use. It means the account is totally taken care of. You need to start seeing your accounts where people have hurt you as being paid in full. Instead of always trying to collect the debt, thinking they owe you something. Get that big rubber stamp out. Mark that account. Paid in full. Next time you see that person that hurt you, stamp it Paid in full. That man that lied about you, paid in full. That friend that betrayed you, paid in full. It's very freeing to say, nobody owes me anything. They may have hurt me. They may have stolen my childhood. They may have cheated me out of some money. That's all right. I'm not on their payroll. I'm on God's payroll. And the good news is, God never misses a payment. Friends marking some accounts paid in full. Life is too short to go through it. Bitter, angry, trying to get people to pay you back. Let it go. God will settle your cases. It's interesting. Today, some airlines will let you take baggage, but you have to pay for each individual piece. You can't take it free anymore. It's the same way in life. You can take emotional baggage, but it's going to cost you something. You can carry that bag of unforgiveness, but it'll cost you joy. You can take around that bag of bitterness, but it'll cost you peace. You can carry that bag of you owe me something. That attitude, if you carry it long enough, it'll Be a very hefty price. It'll keep you from your destiny. Well, you say, Joel, they don't even deserve to be forgiven. Maybe not, but you do. When you don't forgive them, your Heavenly Father cannot forgive you. Why don't you get rid of the baggage? Why don't you mark the accounts paid in full? Why don't you forgive so that you can be free? If you will let go of the hurts, the wrongs and get on God's payroll. Let me declare what's going to happen. God is going to settle your cases. He's going to make your wrongs right. He's going to restore what the enemy has stolen. He is going to bring justice into your life. God is not only going to give you what you deserve, but but he's going to pay you back with double the joy, double the peace, double the friends, double the fulfillment. He's going to bring you out better off than you were before. I believe it and declare it in Jesus name. If you receive it, can you say Amen? We never like to close our broadcast without giving you an opportunity to make Jesus the Lord of your life. Would you pray with me? Just say, Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins. Come into my heart. I make you my Lord and Savior. Friends, if you prayed that simple prayer, we believe you got born again. Get in a good Bible based church. Keep God first place. He's going to take you places that you've never even dreamed of.