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Joel Osteen (1:18)
Hi, this is Joel in Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoyed today's message, why don't
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Joel Osteen (1:28)
We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. God bless you. It's great to be with you today. I hope you'll stay connected with us during the week through our Daily podcast, our YouTube channel Social media and you can come visit us in person. We'd love to have you be a part of one of our services, but I'd like to start with something funny. And I heard about these three men that were traveling together. A Hindu priest, a Jewish rabbi and a televangelist. They stopped at a farmhouse for lodging. The farmer said, I only have room for two of you in the house. Somebody will have to stay in the barn. The Hindu priest said, I'll do it few minutes. There was a knock on the door. He said, I can't stay out there. There's a cow and cows are sacred in our religion. The Jewish rabbi said, I'll do it. A few minutes later there's a knock on the door. He said, I can't stay out there. There's a pig and that wouldn't be kosher. The televangelist finally said alright, I'll do it in a few minutes. There was a knock on the door. It was the cow and the pig. 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 from limping to leaping. All of us can find some reason to limp. We weren't raised in a good environment or relationship, didn't work out. The boss doesn't give us credit. Now we're at a disadvantage. Sometimes a limp is passed down. All we saw modeled growing up was anger, addictions, people not faithful. That feels normal to us. We don't realize we're limping too often. We let the limp be an excuse to settle where we are, water down our dreams and not believe for greater things. If I could have finished school, then I could be successful. Or if I hadn't made these mistakes and wasted years compromising, then I could be happy. We're all going to have times where we have a limp. But here's the key. That limp was never supposed to be permanent. God didn't create you to live insecure, lonely, not having enough. Sure, those things may come, but he knows how to heal and restore and turn things around. But as long as you're using the limp as an excuse, you'll get stuck. You may be limping now. Things have happened that you don't understand. That limp is not how your story ends. That disappointment, the betrayal, the unhealthy childhood. God knows how to take what was meant for harm and turn it to your advantage. Now you have to get in agreement with Him. You can't go around accommodating the limp, making excuses to settle. Joel, I've been injured. I've been hurt. That's why I'm angry. That's why I compromise. That's why I can't be successful. Can I tell you everyone has been injured. Everyone has had bad breaks. But the people who go on to do great things and fulfill their destinies are the people that don't let the limp become an excuse to settle. The people that know the limp is only temporary, that God wouldn't have allowed it if he didn't have a purpose. It's the people that expect things to turn in their favor. The right attitude is I may be limping now. I'm not denying that I'M disappointed, lonely. I've had a setback, but I know God is still on the throne. I wouldn't be alive unless he had something better coming. When I was in the ninth grade, I was on the basketball team. And one day during practice, the coach had us go to the track and run a mile. He walked into the field house and I always like to have fun and make people laugh. We were running in a big group together, but when I saw the coach was gone, I cut across the 50 yard line to the other side of the track so it looked like I was way ahead. Now I was running full speed, almost across. But there was this metal drain cover about 2ft by 2ft. A big grate that the water went through. I didn't want to step on that, so I stepped right before it. What I couldn't see is there was a big hole about a foot deep where the water had drained in from the side. It was covered with grass. I stepped in that hole, my knee hit the metal drain cover and I broke my kneecap. It didn't really hurt that bad. I turned a somersault. I got up, I kept running. Then I looked down at my knee and nearly passed out. But went to the hospital, had surgery. Everything came out fine. But for three months I was on crutches, couldn't bend my leg. Every day after school, I would go to basketball practice and sit on the sidelines and watch the team. I learned the plays, studied the offense. In my mind I was out there with them like LeBron James. Jumping, shooting, defending. I was injured, but I knew it was only temporary. I knew in three months I was going to be back on the court, in the game better than ever. Didn't sit around at home depressed. Man, I want to play, but I got this injury or down on myself. If I wouldn't have made that mistake, if I just stayed on the track like the rest of the guys, I wouldn't have this problem. Sometimes we bring the limp on ourselves. We make choices that cause pain and disappointment. The good news is God doesn't hold that against you. He has mercy for every mistake. When you're limping, you can't sit around defeated, listening to the accusing voices, making excuses that's going to cause you to get stuck. You need to see yourself back on the court. Successful, happy, productive, doing great things. Too many times we normalize the limp. All my family's depressed. That's why I'm depressed. I can't get my degree. I'm not that smart. This person walked out on Me broke my heart. I'll never be happy again. You don't realize that's a limp. You're learning to live with it, letting it be an excuse to not rise higher. You have to know, like I did with my knee, you're going to run again. You're injured now, but healing is coming. That person walked out on you, but God has someone better on the way. You're going to love again. Or you had a setback in your career, a door closed. God's about to open a better door. Don't let that limp cause you to settle where you are and give up on dreams to where you start accepting mediocrity, dysfunction, learning to live with the anger and low self esteem. That's not who you are. That's a limp. It's a temporary season. God created you to be free, healthy, confident, victorious. I was on crutches, but it was only for three months. Those crutches were there for a season to help me get over the injury. But sometimes we get comfortable with the crutches. We were raised with a limp. Instead of realizing it's only temporary, we think, man, I always had this temper. I always have to deal with this anxiety. I can't accomplish my dreams. I don't have the connections. God is saying those crutches are about to come off. What you've been using as an excuse is not going to limit you anymore. Chains are being broken, strongholds are coming down. You're about to step up to who you were created to be. Now quit believing those lies that you're stuck. You don't have the talent. You're the wrong nationality. You've made too many mistakes. This is a new day. God is about to turn that limping into leaping. He's going to cause you to bloom, to blossom. Greater confidence, greater resources, greater influence. Acts Chapter three. There was a man who had been crippled since birth. Every day his family would carry him to the temple so he could beg for money. They would put him at the gate called beautiful. This man had been doing this for years. Every morning, same thing. Getting out of bed, people helping him get dressed, packing a lunch, then setting him at the same spot. When you've been in a limited situation for a long time, it can become normal. I'm sure the man didn't like to beg. He didn't like to be looked down on, be at the mercy of others. But he had accepted this was his lot in life. It wasn't his fault he was born crippled. If you've always been lame, you don't expect to walk. If you've never felt good about yourself and always felt insecure, unattractive, not worthy. Even though it's not true. That becomes normal if all you've seen is poverty, anger, addictions. You don't expect to have abundance, peace and freedom. Or when people have always carried you like this man, and made accommodations for those weaknesses. It can become who you are to where you accept it. Hey, Joel. It's not my fault I was born with this disadvantage. I can't be successful. I have a limp. Yeah. I don't feel worthy. It's because of how I was raised. Nobody made me feel valuable. You may have a valid explanation as to why you are that way. But don't let it be an excuse to stay that way. God came to take off of you what the enemy put on you. There may be negative traits that you inherited. Things that were passed down, made it more difficult. But God raised you up to break the negative cycle. You're the one to set a new standard. You wouldn't be hearing this if God wasn't about to do a new thing. Limping is not your destiny. Addictions, low self esteem, never able to get ahead. That's not who you are. But as long as you're accepting it, you're giving it the right to stay. Victory starts in our thinking. Thoughts will whisper. You'll always have this crutch. You'll always struggle and always be lonely. Always have bad breaks. Don't believe those lies. The limp is only temporary. It's significant that this man was placed at a gate called Beautiful. The fact is, there was nothing beautiful about his life. Crippled, poor, having to beg. I'm sure he was discouraged, felt not valuable. Nothing good in his future. He could have been placed at other gates. The southwest gate, the freeway gate. But every day he was taken to this gate called Beautiful. He didn't realize God was prophesying his future. Everything looked ugly in his life. But God was saying, something beautiful is coming. I have beauty for the ashes, joy for the morning, healing for the sickness, new beginnings for the lost. You may be in an ugly situation, dealing with an illness or child that's off course fighting an addiction like this man. You getting up each day, making the most of a difficult situation, going to work, being good to people, keeping that song of praise. But nothing's changing. It's the same thing, month after month. What you can't see is you're at a gate called Beautiful. God has positioned you in his divine destiny. He's prophesying over you things are not only about to change, but it's going to be better than you've imagined. You're going to come into a beautiful place. Abundance, healing, joy, laughter. Not just coming out, not just making it through, but God exceeding your expectations. Now, don't let the ugliness of what you're going through fool you. God is still on the throne. He said, weeping may endure for a night, but joy is coming in the morning. Another way to say it is limping may endure for a season, but leaping is on the way. It may be ugly now, but you're at the gate.