Nicki and Bri (0:00)

Hey everyone, it's Nicki and Bri and we're here to let you know that we have a podcast, the Nicki and Bri Show. Yes, and we've got new episodes every Monday and Thursday. We're serving up real deal conversations that go beyond the cameras. Think Motherhood Confessions, Sisterhood Vibes, Boss Business Energy and TV Live Tea. Need a laugh? We got you craving inspo. We got inspiration and affirmations on deck. Want a little cry or a big Heck yes. Then that's our jam. Whether we're breaking down pop culture, sharing, parenting wins or fails, unpacking personal growth, or just riffing on everyday chaos, nothing is off limits. Plus, we welcome incredible guests, play our favorite games, and do what only sisters can. Keep it 100 while raising a glass together. So pop a bottle, hit play and come hang with us. Listen to the Nikki and Bri show wherever you get your podcast.

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Joel Osteen (1:46)

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 you be a blessing and share it with a friend? We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. God bless you. It's a joy to come into your homes and if you're ever in our area, please stop by and be a part of one of our services. I promise you we'll make you feel right at home. I like to start with something funny and I heard about this six year old boy. He was standing in the church lobby staring at a large plaque on the wall. It was filled with names with small American flags by their side. He asked the pastor what it meant and the pastor explained how that was a memorial to all the young men and women that died in the service. The little boy stood there silently, very concerned. He finally looked up and asked, was it the 8:30 or 11:00 service 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 the fight for your future. We all have things that come against us in life. People that aren't fair, a sickness that won't seem to go away, or a setback in our finances. Sometimes it was no fault of our own. We were born into difficulties, parents that weren't around, depression and addictions that keep getting passed down. We wonder, why am I having this opposition? Why was I raised in an unhealthy childhood? Why did this company let me go after all these years? It's because there's something in you that the enemy's trying to stop. Those bad breaks were not random. You weren't just unlucky. Those were strategic attacks. If the enemy wasn't threatened by you, he wouldn't be trying to hold you back. If he couldn't see greatness in you, he wouldn't waste his time bringing those challenges. When you gave your life to Christ, God marked you. He said, you're mine. He put that crown of favor on your head. That's great. But the challenge is you became a target to the enemy. He knows you're destined to take new ground. He knows God has favored you to leave your mark. So he's going to work overtime to try to stop you. Many times the enemy knows who we are even before we realize who we are. When David was a teenager working out in the shepherd's fields and he seemed as ordinary as can be, he didn't have a significant position taking care of his father's sheep. He didn't come from wealth and influence. They were a low income family. Nothing about David that stood out. Why did his father leave him in the shepherd's fields? When Samuel came to anoint one of the sons as the next king, was no big deal to bring him in. Why did he disrespect David and look down on him like that? When David took lunch to his brothers when they were in the army, why did his oldest brother belittle David and make fun of him? Why was he jealous? David wasn't intimidating. Didn't seem like he was any threat to them. But the enemy can see things in you that you may not see in yourself. David saw himself as ordinary, but Even the enemy knew he was a giant killer. He knew he was a history maker. That's why he came against David so strongly. Many of the difficulties you faced, things that didn't make sense, opposition that came out of nowhere, people that turned on you. It's because there's a giant killer in you. There's a history maker. You may not be able to see it yet, but even the enemy can see there's greatness in you have a new perspective. Those difficulties are a sign something amazing is in your future. Mark, chapter five. There was a man that was possessed with evil spirits. It had gotten so bad no one could control him. They sent him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, to a place called the Gadarenes, where he could live among the tombs in a graveyard, a deserted place. They tried to chain him up, but he was so strong he would break the chains. All through the night and day. He would wander through the tombs, wearing no clothes, cutting himself and screaming. This man didn't look like he had much of a chance. Deranged in his mind, society had written him off. But I can imagine some nights there were moments of sanity where he would look up and say, God, please help me. Why am I so tormented? God, I want to go back home. It looked like this was his destiny. People had given up on him. But God never gives up on us. Nobody is too far gone. Don't write your child off. Don't write your neighbor off, your cousin off. May seem like they're too bad, too addicted, too depressed, too far off course. The enemy wouldn't be fighting them that hard if there wasn't something amazing on the inside of them. Jesus was in Galilee teaching people on the shore. When he finished that day, instead of going to rest where he normally did, he told the disciples he wanted to cross to the other side of the lake where the man was. In the middle of the night, while they were on the boat, a huge storm arose. The waves started crashing over the boat, filling it with water. Looked like it was going to sink. Jesus was asleep in the back. The disciples frantically ran. Jesus, wake up. We're about to die. Jesus stood up and spoke to the storm. Peace, be still. Suddenly the winds and waves stopped. Everything was perfectly calm. The next morning when they arrived on the shore, Jesus was getting out of the boat when this deranged man came running up to him, fell on his knees and started screaming. Jesus spoke to the demons and told them to come out. Instantly the man was healed. The scripture says they saw the man sitting fully clothed. In his right mind. What's interesting is when Jesus was on the boat headed toward the man, the huge storm that arose wasn't random, wasn't just an act of nature, just a coincidence that was the enemy trying to stop Jesus from getting to the man. You would think the enemy would be satisfied. I mean, the man was possessed out of his mind, cutting himself. Surely he's no threat, he'll never do anything great. But no, the enemy knew, despite all he had done, despite the cutting, the torment, the confusion, that this man still had greatness in him. That he still had a destiny to fulfill, dreams to accomplish. When he saw Jesus crossing the lake, he thought, I've got to stop him, got to keep him from getting here. There is a fight for your future. But what I want you to see is it's not your battle. God is fighting for you. The enemy may send the storms opposition that looks too big. Don't worry, God controls the winds. He overrides every negative force. The winds that are trying to stop you from your destiny, God is speaking to them right now. Breakthroughs are coming, healing is coming, freedom is coming. Things that look like they could never turn around. The storm seems darker than ever. On your own, you don't have a chance. But you're not on your own. Get ready. Favor is coming. Victory is coming. Like this man, you're going to see God override what's trying to stop you. There's no storm too strong for our God to calm, no giant too big for him to defeat, no fire too hot that he can't step in and bring you out. This man that was deranged, he didn't know that Jesus had spoken to the winds. He didn't know there was a huge storm, that Jesus had gone to great lengths to get to him. He just saw him show up on the shore. You don't know how many storms the enemy has sent to try to keep God from getting to you. How many times God has said, peace be still. That's my son, that's my daughter. I'm going to break those chains. They're going to fulfill their destiny. God has been fighting for you your whole life. Pushing back forces of darkness, crossing lakes, calming storms just to get to you. Some of these battles took place when you were a small child. The enemy knew way back then what you were called to be. He could see the favor and anointing on your life. He could see you were destined for greatness. So he has worked overtime trying to stop your destiny through things you had no control over. My father, as a two year old little boy, was walking by a fire and he fell into it. Nobody was around. He could have been killed. Out of nowhere, someone came and pulled him out. He couldn't save himself. That was God fighting for him. The enemy sent the storm. But God said, peace be still. I have the final say. The enemy can't stop your life. He can't stop your destiny. David said in Psalm 30, Lord, I praise you for you refuse to let my enemies triumph over me. Why did that fire not take my father out? God refused to let the enemy triumph. Why did that accident not harm you? God refused to let it harm you. Why did you beat the cancer? Why did that unhealthy childhood not stop you? Why hasn't that addiction finished you off? Because God's purpose is more powerful than the enemy's plan. The forces of darkness cannot stop what God has ordained for you. If you only knew all the things God has refused to let happen to you. You may have had some bad breaks, disappointments. But just the fact that you're still here is a sign. God's favor is on your life. There may be obstacles trying to stop you. Now you don't understand it. It's because there's greatness in you. The enemy doesn't come against people that don't have anything. If you weren't a threat, he'd leave you alone. In one sense, you can take it as a compliment. Yes, I have big obstacles, but I know it's because I have a big destiny. Had some bad breaks, disappointments, but they could not finish me off. I'm still standing. The enemy wouldn't have wasted so much time and energy on you if there wasn't something amazing in your future. Now do your part. Stay in faith. Don't go around complaining about what didn't work out, what you didn't get. God is still working. He's a God of justice. He will make up for what was unfair. He will pay you back for the wrongs that were done way back as a small child. The enemy knew my father would be the first one in our family to give his life to Christ. He knew he would be the one to break the cycle of poverty that had limited us for generations. He knew Daddy would start Lakewood, that he would leave children and grandchildren to continue it on. No wonder he tried to stop him in the fire. No wonder his family told him all he knew how to do was pick cotton, that he could never become a minister. No wonder one church asked him to resign because his message of Faith and victory didn't fit in. When you have a big future, the enemy is not going to just roll out the red carpet and let you fulfill it. Paul said, First Corinthians. A wide door of opportunity is open to me, and there are many adversaries. The many adversaries doesn't mean God has forgotten about you. Doesn't mean you've been left out. It's because of the wide doors that are about to open. It's because of the favor that's in your future. You can look back over your life and see things that came against you, some that you had nothing to do with, things that weren't fair. You were left out, mischaracterized, made to look bad. Other times you tried to step up to a new level. You tried to set a new standard. But opposition came out of the woodwork, things that you've never faced. There are forces that don't want you to take new ground. When the enemy sees you start to make progress, he'll send the storm, the winds, the waves. That's when God will step up and say, peace, be still. The storms cannot stop our God. What you're up against is not a sign that you're stuck. It's a sign promotion is coming. The storm is a sign God is close to the shore. You're about to see things change in your favor. When Moses was born, the Pharaoh had put out a decree that all the Hebrew male babies were to be killed at birth. Pharaoh was concerned that the Israelites would get bigger than the Egyptians and overtake them. Not only that, it was prophesied that Moses would deliver the Israelites out of slavery. It wasn't a coincidence that Moses was born into adversity, born with forces against him. Nothing. He had done his poor choices. But from his birth, the enemy was trying to stop him. His mother hid him in the house for three months. Eventually, he got too big. She thought he would be found and killed. So she put him in a small basket and sent him floating down the Nile River. It just so happened Pharaoh's daughter was out taking a bath when she heard the cries coming from the basket. She opened it and couldn't believe it. She fell in love with this little baby. What's interesting is she knew he was a Hebrew baby. She knew he wasn't supposed to live. Her father was the one that made the decree. But for some reason, she and her father, the Pharaoh, decided it was okay for her to keep the baby and raise it as her own. When God is fighting your battles, things will happen that don't make sense when he says, peace, be still, Storms that look impossible will suddenly come down. Maybe you were raised in an environment that wasn't real healthy. You have plenty of reasons to be sour and think that you could never do anything great. You've been through too much. How do you know you're not a Moses? How do you know that adversity is not a sign that greatness is in you? That the enemy tried to push you down to keep you from leaving your mark? But God stepped up and said, peace, be still. He didn't bring you through because you're ordinary now. You need to step into your greatness. Quit believing those lies that you've had. Too many bad breaks, too much against you. It's too unfair. It doesn't have to be fair for God to do something awesome in your life. In fact, when it's not fair, when you're the underdog, when the enemy's trying to stop you, that's when God steps up and shows out the most. Wasn't fair that David's own family belittled him, but that didn't stop him from taking the throne. Wasn't fair that Joseph was thrown into a pit, lied about, put in prison, but that didn't stop him from becoming the prime minister. Wasn't fair that Moses was born under a death threat. Parents had to hide him, but that didn't stop him from delivering the Israelites. Who says it has to be fair for you to fulfill your destiny? No bad break has canceled God's plan for your life. No injustice, no disappointment, no person. The reason it's not fair is because there's something in you that the enemy doesn't want out. There's an assignment God has for you that the enemy is trying to stop. An anointing, an empowerment, a favor that he doesn't want you to see. The good news he doesn't have the final say. Now get ready to step into your greatness. My sister Lisa, was born with something like cerebral palsy. The the doctors told my parents she may never be able to walk or feed herself. First year, she couldn't lift her head, had no sucking reflexes. But by the grace of God, over time, she defied the odds. Kept getting better and better. Growing up, there were five of us kids in the house, and all of us except Lisa were very athletic, played sports, stayed active. But Lisa, having come through that birth injury, couldn't do everything we could. When we were choosing teams to play kickball with our friends in the neighborhood. Lisa Would always be chosen toward the very end, right before my brother Paul. But it seemed like it was one bad break after another for Lisa. In her early 20s, she went through a breakup in a relationship. Very hurtful, very unfair. Not long after that, she was working with us here at the church, opening my father's mail. One day she opened this package and it exploded in her lap. It was a mailbomb. Blew up part of her leg, injured her stomach. She was rushed to the hospital, had to have surgery. The investigators told us if the package would have been turned long ways in her lap and instead of sideways, she would have been instantly killed. It was a pipe bomb. When it exploded, the nails blew out sideways away from her instead of into her. Why did Lysa have all these things coming against her since she was a baby? The enemy knew there was something special in her. An anointing to teach, a gifting to Lee, a favor to help build people. Every time the enemy sent a storm, God stepped up and said, peace, be still. When the bomb exploded, God said, bomb. You can't finish her off. I have the final say. God refused to let her enemies triumph over her. Lisa says, I opened the bomb and now I am the bomb. What's come against you, you has not been random. Those were strategic attacks for one reason. Because of what's in you. Purpose, destiny, greatness. And if you will keep moving forward, not get bitter over what hasn't worked out. At some point, you're going to step in to what the enemy didn't want you to see. New levels of favor, opportunity like you've never dreamed. God is taking you where you couldn't go on your own. A friend of mine grew up in a large family in puerto Rico. Had 17 brothers and sisters. His parents were heavily involved in witchcraft. When he was three years old, his mother was in a trance. She declared over him that he was the son of Satan. He was too young to know any better. But imagine having people speaking things like that over your life. Seem fair. Looked like he was at a disadvantage, but people don't have the final say. What you can't see is behind the scenes, the most high God is fighting for you. He overrules every negative thing that people have spoken. Fifteen years old, this young man moved to New York City with one of his brothers. Six months later, he was the leader of of one of the most violent and feared street gangs. Fighting and stealing were a part of his everyday life. A year later, his best friend was stabbed and died in his arms. Like the deranged man that was cutting himself. Didn't seem like this young man had any future. He would never amount to much. He was too far off course. But what he couldn't see was God was crossing the lake to get to him. God was on the way to turn things around. When forces come against you that strongly, you can be assured there's a great purpose for your life. There's great potential on the inside. One night, a minister came up to him on the street and invited him to a service that he was having. This young man made fun of him and threatened to beat him up. But when you plant a seed, you never know when it's going to take root. The next night, the young man and his whole gang showed up at the service. They were planning to disrupt things and cause trouble. But when he began to hear about the love and forgiveness of our God. He felt something on the inside that he had never felt. At the end of the service, against all odds, he stood up and gave his life to Christ. Instantly, chains were broken off of his mind. He felt a new sense of purpose, a new sense of destiny. He knew he was no longer the son of Satan. He was the son of the most high God. When you can't fight for yourself, you have to know God is fighting for you. He is bigger than any force that's trying to hold you back. He's bigger than negative words that were spoken over you. He's bigger than the addiction, bigger than how you were raised. Bigger than that sickness. You wouldn't have that difficulty if there wasn't greatness in you. Today our friend Nikki Cruz is an amazing minister. He goes around the world telling what God has done. But what I'm saying is Nicky couldn't change that on his own. Being born in that environment seemed unfair. The man that was deranged, cutting himself, he couldn't get free by himself. Even people couldn't help him. That's why they sent him away. The good news is you have someone fighting for you behind the scenes. God's pushing back forces of darkness. Making things happen that you couldn't make happen. The scripture says, stand still and you will see the deliverance of the Lord. You keep doing the right thing, and God will take care of what's stopping you. He'll turn the opposition around. He'll move the wrong people out of the way. He'll give you the breaks you need to get you to where you're supposed to be. When I first started ministering back in 1999, it seemed like everyone was. For me, people were so encouraging. Cheering me on, many of you. But after a couple of years, I started having some opposition and people that didn't understand me. I used to think, why are they coming against me? Just trying to keep the church going. Talking about the goodness of God. I'm not bothering anybody else. I realize now the enemy doesn't fight you for where you are. He fights you for where you're going. I thought I would always be at the same level. I was satisfied to maintain where we were. But God had something bigger in me. Things that I couldn't see. The enemy wasn't fighting me for where I was. He was fighting me for the Compact Center. He was fighting me for my books. For Sirius xm, for the Knights of Hope. You may be doing the right thing, but you have opposition. You don't understand it. It's because there's something in your future much bigger than you think. You can't see it right now, but even the enemy knows it's coming. He knows you're a giant killer, you're a history maker that you're going to affect generations to come. Now quit being discouraged by what's against you. If you weren't a threat, the enemy wouldn't be bothering you. It's because of the greatness that's in you. What's come against you may be bigger, stronger. Don't worry. The Most High God is fighting for you right now. He's crossing the lake saying, peace, be still. Now I believe and declare. Every storm that you're facing is beginning to dissipate. Every chain that's held you back is being broken. The greatness in you is about to come out. New levels of favor, influence, opportunity, healing, breakthroughs, the fullness of your destiny. In Jesus name. And if you receive it, can you say Amen today? Well, I'd like to give 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'll 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 and keep God first place.